My Life, My Love and My Lover
by luv it123
Summary: Max and Fang start to get a little more heated. Basically the life of Max and the Flock. Major Faxness and a little Eggy. A lot better than it sounds  I hope. I suck at summaries, so be nice and just read. r&r! POST FANG
1. Play Fight

**A/N: This is my first Maximum Ride fanfic ever, so be nice. I've actually written a lot of it (and by a lot of it, I mean 2 more chapters), because I know that if I don't I'll never finish it. And you'd never find out what happens. Although, it'd be nice for me to know what happens too, but you know... **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. So GET USED TO IT! Lol**

"MAX! GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED NOW!" was the first thing I heard that morning. But what puzzled me, was that I was usually the one to scream that down the hall to everyone else. Today it was Iggy's turn to shine, and as he screamed, I could hear a touch of amusement in his voice. I staggered out of bed and reached for the door handle. Why did everyone want _me_ these days? What was wrong with Fang, or Iggy?

"What?" I hollered from the stairs. "This better be good, because I want to go _back to bed_!"

"Ooh, since when did Miss Up and At It become Miss Sleepy Head?" A deep voice whispered in my ear beside me, sending shivers down my spine. "Why won't you just go downstairs? It's not _that_ far." I shook my head, refusing to accept given orders. "Fine then, I guess I'll have to take you down myself."

Strong arms wrapped around my waist and lifted me off my feet.

"Fang! Put me down!" I screeched. If I really wanted to be put down, I would have punched or kicked him, but instead I just hit him playfully. Fang carried me downstairs by my waist and walked into the kitchen of the Martinez household. There, Iggy stood, with a saucepan in one hand and its lid in the other.

"What?" I spat at him and glared.

"Put her down Fang." God, how did he know that? He can't even see me. Wait, it's because I just screamed for Fang to put me down. Sometimes, I surprise myself at how stupid I can be. _Sometimes_.

"Yeah, Fang, put me down." I said with obvious fake anger in leaking from my voice.

"Ok." Fang replied, and he put a quick kiss on my cheek before placing my feet on the ground.

"What do you want Iggy?" I fake-snarled. I snuck a quick glance at the pot in his hand, and snapped "And why is Fang in on it?"

"Oh, no reason." Iggy said playfully, and he stepped forward. He was getting ready for a play fight. Why? I have absolutely no idea.

"Don't touch me Iggy." I stepped backwards. Too bad Fang was there, and Fang was part of the plan. He caught my sleeve and held on like there was no tomorrow. "Fang." I said slowly. "Let. Go. Of. Me." When he didn't, I spun around on my heel, ready to throw a punch or snap a kick.

"Why should I?" Questioned Fang, and he himself grabbed a weapon. This whole play-fighting scene was starting to get on my nerves. Suddenly, out of the blue, Mom stepped into the kitchen, car keys in hand.

"Why should you what?" She said, and quickly realised that I was in between two 18 year old boys holding kitchen utensils as weapons. "I come home from dropping Ella off at school to find to find you two holding supposed weapons at my daughter?" She barked. "Go! Now!" Of course, when she said go, she was referring to leaving the kitchen and I hoped they knew that. They quickly walked away, leaving me in the kitchen with my mom, who was sure to have given me some sort of talk before I left the room.

"Max," she started. Oh boy, here it comes. "I want you to know that if someone actually _hurts_ you from doing that, it _isn't _ok. You got that?" I nodded.

"But M-." She cut me off.

"No buts Max, just listen to me. It isn't ok what they were about to do to you." She said in a very motherly like fashion.

"Mom," ha-ha, I'm sneaky and didn't say but! "They were just playing around." She obviously hadn't caught on to Fang and Iggy's fake-evil voices. I, on the other hand, had lived with them for years, and could easily tell when they were joking. Mom looked disappointed; she must have been looking forward to kicking their butts into next week.

"Well. Ok then. Just remember what I told you sweetie. It's very important that you remember that." Her face had dulled and she had no authority in her voice anymore. The rage she had over Fang and Iggy must have fuelled her side of the conversation, and she was now left with nothing. Stalking out of the room, gathering as much pride as she had, Mom left, car keys still in her hand. I didn't know where she was going, and honestly, I didn't care. All I cared about was what had just happened. I ran up the stairs, leaping three at a time. I burst through the door leading into Fang's room, my apology all set, to find him speaking deeply with Iggy. So deeply, they didn't even hear me enter, which was surprising. I stayed by the door, eavesdropping into their conversation.

"Man, you should go for it. No one will judge you for doing _that. _It's a free country, remember?" Fang encouraged.

"But what if Max finds out? What if she kills me?" Iggy looked down at his feet, awkwardly embracing the truth. I was having trouble facing the truth myself. What were they talking about and why did it involve me?

"Max won't kill you. She'll have to find out one day. Plus, she won't care. Do it, man. Go for it. Ella's all yours." I gasped. Was is just me, or was Fang feeling talkative today? But… Ella? Iggy and Ella, Ella and Iggy. Wow. Never saw that coming.

Iggy still looked unconvinced. I could see his face, and he turned in my direction, the direction of the gasp. Fang followed his gaze, his eyes landing on me. Shoot. They caught me.

"Max, do you mind leaving? I'll talk to you in a bit." Yep, he was definitely more talkative today.

"Uh, ok." I said quietly and slipped out the door. My mind and heart was racing. As I walked down the hallway and was about to turn into my room, a strong hand held me back. I turned my head to see Fang staring at me with his strong, onyx eyes.

"I'm sorry about that. How much did you hear?" He asked, stepping closer to me.

"Enough of it to know."

"Yeah, well, sorry. I would have told you anyway." He whispered into my ear, yet again, sending shivers down my spine, yet again. God, today was getting weirder and weirder. Fang pushed a strand of hair that was covering my eyes out of my face and looked deeply into them. A strong hand suddenly snaked around my back, and his lips were on mine. His tongue pushed forward, begging for entrance, and I let him in. My hands were behind his head, getting caught in his hair. Fang angled his head more, trying to deepen the kiss. The kiss was loving, and I felt _loved._ I also felt like we had been there for hours when a sudden noise caught me off-guard.

"Ehhmm." Mom coughed, making me jump back three feet, which was bad, because I crashed into a wall. What was wrong with her these days? I guess she's become more protective.

"Max. My office. Now." She gave me a death glare. The first death glare I'd ever seen from her. "Fang. Not you. Find the others."

As I got walked away from _him_, my _soul-mate_, I gave him a look of apology in my eyes. This was my entire fault.

**A/N: Sooooo…. How was it? Did it go too fast? Sorry if it did. Please review, you'd be my saviour if you do! It can be as simple as "cool" if you're that lazy, but c'mon. Are you? I won't update if you don't! Oh, and sorry that Dr Martinez is a bit/a lot OOC, but it's the only way (well not the **_**only**_** way) to make it interesting. And sorry that the others didn't appear in this chap, but they weren't needed!**


	2. Kisses

**A/N: OMG, I got 4 reviews and about 10 favourite story/author Alerts! WOW! That's more than I've ever gotten (sad, isn't it.) Ooh, and look at me, second chapter in 24 hours! What's gotten into me?**

**Disclaimer: If James Patterson was a 13 year old girl from Melbourne, Australia who was freakishly tall and loved her Faxness, then yeah, I own Maximum Ride. Sadly, he isn't. **

"Max, sweetie, we need to talk." Mom stated when we reached her office.

"About what?" I plopped myself down in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk.

"About Fang."

"Why?"

"Well… you two seem perfect for each other."

_And we do, _I thought, although I kept it to myself. I knew this was going to be a 'don't talk unless I ask you to' conversation.

"And that's ok with me. Just… be careful. I don't want you getting hurt." What was her problem today?

"Hurt in what way?" I asked, puzzled.

"Any way. Any way at all. Mental, physical, anything." She clarified. I knew there was nothing to worry about. Fang wouldn't intentionally hurt me, and he never had. Unless you count 3 years ago when he ditched me after Total's wedding. But he soon came to his senses (and by soon, I mean 2 weeks later) and returned, regretting it, but soon getting over it. He never tried to leave again, disappointing the eternal prick named Dylan, who left soon after Fang's arrival back home. The loss of Fang had hurt me, but made me stronger all the same.

"Mmmhhhmmmm." I said, nodding my head like a chicken, knowing that this was the only way to ensure me making it out of this alive.

"But promise me one thing Max." She stared into my eyes.

"What?"

"Don't get _too_ serious. You know what I mean." Her words shocked me. I nearly fell off my chair. So I had been on the run most of my life and _now_ she tells me to be careful? Something was definitely worrying her. She wouldn't like the sound of Iggy and Ella either. _This_ could be bad.

"Ok. I promise." Mom looked in my eyes for lies. I've always been a good liar. Only a few people in the world can tell when I'm lying; Fang, Angel and on occasion, Iggy. But Mom didn't know me well enough to know that I would lie to her about this.

I can't promise anything, especially like this. It will just happen (if it does). That might not make any sense whatsoever, but I get it. I get it a lot.

"Ok Max. You can go." I felt like she was some sort of secretary telling me that, and she did too, and tried to make amends. "I love you Max." She said and I walked out, nodding. All of a sudden, my hands were in Fang's and he drew me away from the still open doorframe.

"And _I_ love _you, _Maximum Ride." His husky voice drifted into my ear slowly and peacefully. He had been listening in, but I didn't care, I was with the one I loved most in this world. Hand in hand, we rushed around the house. I didn't know where we were going, but for the second time today, I honestly didn't care. We stopped abruptly. "In here." Fang ushered, pushing me lightly into a room. I was in too much of a daze to realise that we were in Fang's own room, the very same room that I had been in little under an hour before. Yes, Mom's talks can go on forever.

Fang closed the door behind him and turned to face me, his eyes flashing with something. Fang wasn't one to emote with his eyes, but on the rare occurrences that he did, I could automatically figure out what was flashing through his mind at the time. Today was different, and his eyes showed a lot of what he was thinking at the same time. There were many, but the few that stood out for me was lust, loving and apology.

"I'm sorry." He murmured.

"Why are you sorry? You did nothing wrong. And Mom's talk wasn't that bad. Just a bit awkward, that's all. How much did you hear?"

"Not much." I thought he was feeling talkative today. I thought today could become the Flocks 'Fang Talks Day'. Like a holiday. Maybe the whitecoats could be in on it, and decide that they would never attack us again, especially not that day. Pft. What was I thinking? The whitecoats would always want us, however hard we tried. We had escaped their grasp 8 years ago, but they never gave in.

"Max!" Fang snapped his fingers in front of my face, attempting to focus my mind.

"What?" I asked, finally coming to my senses.

"Max, I…" his voice trailed off. "I-."

"GUYS! I'M GOING TO GO GET ELLA FROM SCHOOL NOW!" Mom called at the Flock. I heard the front door slam and the engine start.

"Now, what do you want, Fan-" My voice was cut off when Fang's lips touched mine. Wow, twice today! Fang's kiss was gentle and sweet, loving and caring. I suddenly remembered to breath, and so I took a breath in through my nose. Bad idea Max. I snorted, and we both broke apart and laughed. Fang calmed himself before me, and I ended up snorting again whilst attempting to stop my own laughing, triggering another laughing fit from me, but a subtle, rare grin from Fang. It took me about another 5 minutes to fully stop myself laughing, but I had the hic-ups after.

"Fang I-hic-I'm so sorry about my-hic-Mom." I laughed, although trying my hardest at staying calm. I hic-upped again and Fang sniggered. "Great, now I sound like Angel when she was-hic-6."

"A very cute, hot 18 year old Angel." Fang said.

"Yeah, Angel wasn't this-hic-cute, was she?"

"No." Fang said huskily. "And she definitely couldn't kiss as good either." Before I had time to reply, Fang's lips were on mine. We had somehow made it to his bed, and I leaned back, letting him take over. Wow, 3 times in about 3 hours. I could get used to this.

Fang's kiss was lustful and full of hunger, but not hurtful. I let him into my mouth without argument or battle. My back was now on his black bed sheets and he was on all fours around me. I got my hands caught in his hair, twisting it and pulling it, making him moan. Somehow (and I didn't care to think how), Fang's shirt was off, and I ran my hands up and down his toned torso. His hands played in my hair, pulling it gently. He suddenly let himself fall onto me, pressing against me so there was no gaps between us. My hands were useless under his weight, and so I let him take over completely. I couldn't move my hands much, and I didn't care to either, but I managed to snake my arms around his back. Our kiss got deeper and deeper, and somehow I managed to take breaths without snorting this time. We were so occupied in what we were doing, we didn't hear the car engine stop outside or Ella's squeals. We could have been there for hours, but I didn't mind.

Suddenly, Ella burst through the door, to find Fang laying over me, shirtless, my arms snaked around his back, making out. She squealed and ran out, most likely to find Nudge and tell her everything. I pulled away and flipped sideways, forcing Fang to fall on the floor. I heard him mutter a few swear words as he got up.

"ELLA! COME BACK!" I called out to her, praying that she wouldn't tell Mom any of this. Suddenly, Iggy appeared at the door. He raised an eyebrow and smirked, knowing what we had just done.

"So guys, have a fun day?" He asked and smirked again. When we didn't reply, (well, Fang didn't reply and I replied in a glare) he raised an eyebrow and walked away.

"Great!" I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "This is just great."

**A/N: Soooo, how was **_**this**_** one? Am I even writing this for anyone? That's a good question. C'mon, 5 more reviews and I'll update. For me?**


	3. Caught

**A/N: Ok, so this is CHAPTER 3! You know, I've never gotten this far in a published story before. I'm usually a one-shot girl, but this just came to me. Thanx for all the reviews, you're AWESOME! But I'm **_**never**_** trying that again. It took AGES. But that doesn't mean you should stop reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Maximum Ride, Dylan wouldn't exist, Fang would never have left and Ari wouldn't have died, wouldn't have **_**existed**_**. Still think I'm James Patterson? Wow, you're DUMB.**

Fang got off the floor and found his shirt, lying in a crumpled pile near the door. I lay on his bed still, shocked at what had happened: we kissed, kissed again (well, we were making out), Ella walked in, ran out, Iggy walked in, walked out. Now all we needed was for Mom to walk through the door and give me _another_ talk on Fang. God, I hope I didn't just jinx myself! I realised Fang was still standing there, looking, no; staring, at me, still shirtless.

"Fang, put a shirt on. I don't need a 3rd _talk_ from Mom." He nodded without a word and silently wandered over to his shirt, giving me a pleading look, waiting for me to tell him he didn't have to put it on. "Put it on Fang." I said, breaking the silence. God, I wished I didn't. At that moment, 5 very different faces stuck their heads round the door, staring at me and Fang wide-eyed. Mostly at Fang. I looked round at him and saw him staring at them, his shirt in hand.

"Ooh, Max and Fang, stittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Nudge of all people, sang out of the blue. I reacted quickly and picked up a pillow (black of course) and threw it at her head. It missed, but hit Iggy in the face instead. He screamed.

"Oh, get over yourself Ig." I said, rolling my eyes, which was wasted on him. The others turned to look at him, and I took that split second to close the door on their worried faces.

"Nice one." Fang stated.

"Yeah, I'm just the nicest person on the block." I said, giving him a half smile. I realised that he was _still _shirtless and glared. "Fang. Shirt. _Now._" I snarled. He smirked and followed my orders for once. To tell you the truth, I wanted him to just stand there like I had said nothing. Nothing at all. I didn't mind Fang walking around without a t-shirt on, but Mom would. She would mind _a lot_. Something or _someone_ has definitely taken over my mind today. I feel like a mental Nudge.

"C'mon. Let's do _something_ besides this." I said, dying to get out of his room. It's dark, eerie feeling was taking over me. But I wasn't telling him that.

"Yeah. I wanna see Ig make his move. This oughta be good." _There's_ Mr Talkative. Maybe there _is_ a chance for Flock 'Fang Talks Day'. I nodded and made my way to the door and turned the handle before Fang could stop me.

I swiftly walked out and Fang followed silently behind. I tip-toed down the stairs and went in the direction of the living room. Why the living room you ask? Because I could hear Gazzy arguing (again) with Nudge, and Iggy was cheering him on.

"Let _go_ of the remote!" Nudge shouted so loud they could probably here it from the Caribbean.

"NO! I was watching MY show!" Gazzy screamed as loud, if not louder.

"But I want to watch _my_ show now!" Nudge grabbed the remote out of his hands and Iggy booed. Way to stop the fight Ig. God, he is _such_ a child.

"But _you_ were on the computer!" Gazzy struggled to grab the remote back, because Nudge held it high above her head. Gazzy jumped and attempted at grabbing it, but only caught air. I was _so_ glad he forgot he had wings at that moment. The screaming got louder and louder and I was struggling to not scream at them at that very moment. I put hands up to my ears, but Fang pulled them down and put his own to my ears. Awwww, since when was he feeling all sweet today? It made my heart thump in pleasure. I looked up at the tall figure looming behind me and smiled at him. Fang smiled back and looked back at Nudge and Gazzy. Taking my hand, he lead me around the argument to the couch next to the one Iggy was slumped on. I sat down and but he didn't. I gave him a questioning look and mouthed the word 'What?' Fang put a few of his fingers to his mouth and whistled. The kind of whistle that farmers do. All heads swivelled to him.

"Nudge, Gazzy, don't care. Go away." He waved them off with a flap of his hand and sat back down next to me, putting his arm around my shoulder as he did. Nudge scowled at Gazzy and stomped away, most likely to her room. Gazzy jumped down next to Iggy and hi-fived him.

"Way to go man! You told her!" Iggy said and Gazzy glowed. You would think that an 18 year old man would _hate_ to have a 12 year old best friend, but Iggy didn't care at all. He seemed more than fine with it. "So guys, you never answered my question. Did you have a nice day?" I glared in response and Fang sat there like Iggy had never said it.

"Ew, gross Fang! Stop thinking about that stuff!" Angel complained out of the blue. "I mean, I'm used to get it from Iggy, but dude! Stop it!" Iggy snickered and Gazzy stifled a laugh. Sometimes having a 10 year old mind-reader is much worse than having a 6 year old one. 'Cause now, she knows what all of it means.

"Yeah Fang. Stop it, I don't know what you're thinking about, but… just… just stop." I agreed, looking up into his eyes, holding on to the top of his shirt.

"Sorry, it's not my fault… she's the one who reads minds! She _chose_ to see what I was thinking about!" He said, and looked down at me. There was a time when I was a lot taller than everyone in the Flock, but now both Fang and Iggy tower over me. But they still don't try and pick a fight with me, because they know I can kick their sorry butts into the middle of next month. Fang leaned in and kissed my forehead. Since when did he become all mushy? "And I'm sorry that Max is the cutest and hottest girl ever. Even if she _does_ snort and hic-up." I laughed and Fang grinned. But Iggy, Gazzy and Angel looked at us like we were a bunch of circus clowns in some fancy, snobby hotel. Suddenly, Ella ran into the room, jumping up and down with excitement.

"OMG, OMG, OMG! Where's Nudge? OMG, OMG, OMG!" She squeaked.

"What Ella?" I asked my sister, laughing at her (but not in a mean way). I can't believe she's 16 now. It felt like just the other day that I saved her from those bullies when she was 12. And now…. She's grown up on me. I know, I know, I sound like some weird parent, but it's true.

"Zack and Tyler asked me and Libby out _on a double date_!" She squealed, very excited. I looked over at Iggy and he looked hurt, but tried to cover it up. I'm not very good at being a teenage gossip person like Nudge or whatever, but we'd been her for a few months and I knew enough to know that Zack and Tyler were the hottest guys at Ella's school. But I knew they're not that hot. Ella and Libby have _obviously_ not seen Fang. But all the same, I'm glad they're not hitting on him. I love Ella too much to hurt her, but I could probably kill Libby if I wanted to (which I don't, by the way).

I've met Libby once before, when I was told to go get Ella from school when it was pouring rain. Mom was at work and called home, begging for either me or Fang to go and collect her in the car. I asked if we could fly, but she said no. I'm still totally upset about that. When I had gotten there, I couldn't find Ella anywhere and had to get out of the car and search for her. I found her with Libby and a couple of other girls, who were all whispering and talking about Tyler and Zack, Zack in particular. Libby was a short girl, with long, slightly wavy blonde hair that blew neatly in the wind. She wore lots of make-up the she probably didn't need. She was nice, but not the sort of person _I_ would be friends with. I grabbed Ella and pulled her away, knowing how dangerous it was for me to be there. My wings _are _pretty bulky and really noticeable in places like this. Ella seemed to understand and gave a few quick hugs to her friends and walked to the car with me.

Snapping back into reality, I tried to sound excited for her, although I was struggling. "So, which asked you?" I asked.

"Zack! The hottest boy in the whole of Arizona," I coughed meaningfully and nodded my head towards Fang, which she chose to ignore, "Zack asked me out!"

"Great! When is it?" I continued the conversation. Fang looked at me, wondering why, but I gave nothing away. I have my reasons and not everyone needs to know them.

"Friday. _This_ Friday!" Ella squealed and ran away. I could hear her calling for Nudge's help. "NUDGE! I HAVE TWO DAYS TO GET READY TO GO OUT WITH THE HOTTEST BOY IN ARAZONA. ARE YOU GONNA HELP ME?" Two days. Iggy better make his move in the next two days, and the move better be hard. Or we can cross our fingers that Zack isn't the one for Ella, and Iggy makes his move _after_ the date. I heard Nudge scream in excitement and run up to Ella.

"C'mon Max. We have better things to do." Fang said, very much out into the open, hurting the already hurt Iggy more.

"Yeah, I was just about to go start dinner…" Iggy's voice trailed off.

"Ok." I said. Fang stood up and took my hand in his. He pulled me away from the rest of the Flock, into our own little world.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Review and make my day! It's not that hard! Just hit the lonely button down there…. Go for it! Tell me what to make better! PLEASE ! **


	4. Air

**A/N: Ok this is my little Christmas present from me to all you readers. MERRY CHRISTMAS. My dumb alarm woke me up at 5am this morning, don't know why it was on though. Oh well. Gives me time to do this before my parents and brothers wake me and scream. Oh joy. Haha, merry Christmas.**

**Disclaimer: Me + Maximum Ride + Owner = FALSE. **

Fang led me outside to the back yard and spread his wings. I took the hint and copied the movement. Letting go of my hand, he took a running start and jumped into the open air.

"C'mon Max!" He screamed in delight, which I have to admit, was quite un-Fang like. I smiled and took off into the air. I flew up to Fang, smiling. We were happy. Really happy. I loved it. We started flying higher and father from the house into the sunset. I wanted to hold his hand, but our wings separated us by at least 20 feet. I looked over at him, giving him a warm smile. He looked over at me and returned it lovingly. This was just so unlike us. I guess we'd both been bitten with the love bug at the same time.

Fang flew above me, but lowered himself slowly and steadily. All of a sudden, our wings were beating in a synchronised motion and his arms were around my waist.

He made sure to keep about a 3 inch distance from me, letting my wings spread out. I kept them close to my back, letting Fang hold me tight. I was so glad I had someone to hold me. It made me feel more loved than I already was. Just to ruin the mood, my sub-conscious seemed to remember that I was not only loved, but despised as well. I tried to focus my mind on other things. Fang and I flew along in silence, letting each other think, which I was grateful for.

Fang has been acting and feeling so different these days. I hope the whitecoats or any evil scientists haven't been experimenting on him. Wait, stop yourself Max. This is crazy. You've been with him almost the whole time for the past 3 months. You would have noticed if he was gone. But what about the night? God, I hate arguing with myself. You get nothing out of it, because both sides of the argument know the same amount. When you argue with other people, you find out more about what you're arguing about. God, I feel so helpless. Should I just go out with it and say it? Of course I should! But what if he thinks I'm a freak. Wait, he already knows I'm a freak. I have _wings_ for God sake! But the other sort of freak? What about that? What if he denies it? I won't be able to tell. Ok, here goes….

"Uhh, Fang?" I asked. Smooth Max. Just smooth.

"Yeah?" He asked casually.

"I was just wondering…" C'mon, out with it Max! It's just a question! Why is it so hard? It's probably not true anyway.

"Wondering what?" Fang questioned. Get a grip Max.

"Uhh, have the uhh…" I am the queen of casual.

"Have the what?" Ooh, he was good.

"Have the whitecoats, uhh," you have to keep _going_ Max. "Have the whitecoats been, uhh, experimenting on you?" Way to go Max. Way to ruin the mood.

"What!" He pulled back in surprise. "Why would you say that? I don't have tail feathers sticking out of my butt, do I?" He swivelled his head to get a better look at his butt. Ok, either he's telling the truth or he can lie. _Really _well.

"Never mind…" I said, trying to forget about it. But Fang wasn't giving up that easy.

"Why? This is more than you say it is, isn't it?" He can read me like a book.

"Don't worry." I said pleadingly. Fang nodded his head in agreement but I knew the argument wasn't over. Way to spoil the mood Max. Well, since the mood was ruined I decided to head back. I was starving and Iggy said he was about to start dinner about…. However long ago. I wonder how long we've been out here. It's gotten really dark. Creepy.

"Hey Fang, we should head back."

"Ok." He said and let go of my waist, lifting himself up so he was about 10 feet above me. I lifted myself and joined him higher. We did a quick turn and headed for home in silence. Well this is awkward. We had flown in silence, in _loveable_ silence, up until I asked the question. But now, it's just, _awkward. _Really _awkward_.

We arrived back at the house however many minutes later. No beautiful, delicious smell wafted from the kitchen this time. Maybe Iggy had given up in his despair and Mom had just ordered take-out? They were probably all sitting in the family room now, come to think of it.

Fang and I walked to the back-door and I tried to open it. _Locked._ Damn. Fang stood a fair distance from me. God, Max. This is all your fault. I rapped on the door, hoping for someone to come and answer.

Silence.

I tried again.

More silence.

"What the hell is wrong with these people?" I muttered under my breath. It was dark and cold and I was shivering. Then, I screamed at the top of my lungs and banged on the door as hard as I possibly could. More silence followed that. I was about to try again, when I heard a very faint footstep from inside the house. Then another. Suddenly, Ella appeared in the kitchen.

"Thank _God_." I mumbled. But it took me a second to realise that Ella wasn't in the clothes she wore to school. She was in her night-clothes. WTH? Ella wandered sleepily to the door and unlocked it. I was all ready to demand for answers when the glass door opened and Ella started to speak.

"What the hell is freakin' wrong with you? It's 2am!" I gasped. Had we really been gone _that long_? When we left Iggy had just started to make dinner.

"W-w-what?" I stuttered, unable to think straight. "That's n-not possible. I-We left when Iggy started dinner?" Ok, mental calculations: If Iggy started dinner at about 5pm and it is 2am now, that means we've been gone nine hours. Wait, hold up. _Nine freakin' hours!_ That _can't_ be right. It had also just occurred to me that Fang hadn't spoken a word this whole time. Sure, Fang doesn't speak much, but you would have thought that being gone nine hours would have stunned him enough to make him speak. But _nooooo_.

"Come _on_." Ella pleaded. "It's freezing out here." I ignored her.

"Where did you think we were for nine freaking hours?" I demanded. Ella was shivering and led us inside. Fang went straight for it, but I was reluctant. True, it was cold out there, but I wish she would just answer my question.

Ella sat down at the kitchen table, as did Fang. I kept standing, giving Ella a questioning look. "Go on." I said.

"Well…" I knew from experience this could take a while, and so I set to making some hot chocolate for myself. It was _cold _out. It was early November and soon snow would start to fall.

"Anyone for a hot chocolate?" I questioned. Ella sprung to her feet.

"If you're making hot chocolate, then, how do I put this nicely? Let me do it." Ella said, keeping a straight face. Fang covered his mouth with his hand casually, laughing quietly. This could be a long night.

"Fine." I said, and sat down with an annoyed look on my face. Ella walked over to the fridge and grabbed the milk from the bottom shelf, ready to start her story.

"Well, as I was saying, you left. It was about five when you did, and Iggy went to make some dinner. It was _delicious_ by the way. Best lasagna I've ever had." Fang stood up without a word and made his way to the fridge, checking if there was any left. Disappointed, he settled on no food at all. "Mom got home, blah blah blah. Then we were sitting down to dinner and Mom was all 'Where are Max and Fang?' and we didn't know so we shrugged. Then Iggy made some dirty joke, Angel made a face and Gazzy somehow managed to make _lasagna_ come out of his nose." A disgusted expression was planted on my face thanks to Gazzy, whilst Fang tried hard not to laugh. Ella set 3 cups of hot chocolate on the table and I sipped mine with great pleasure. "And so, Mom got really angry, wondering where you were, when Iggy finally decided to tell her that you had gone flying. When I went to bed, she was really annoyed, not angry, at you, 'cause you hadn't told her. And, yeah, we all went to bed and that's that."

I looked at Ella in surprise. That was it. We'd been gone _nine freakin' hours _and that was it? Some sister. Pft.

Fang decided to speak up in the awkward silence. "Well, that's just great, but if you don't mind, I'm going to bed now." Ella nodded and took one last sip of her own hot chocolate, and went up the stairs. I stood up and took Fang's hand in mine, lacing the long fingers though my own.

"Let's go." I whispered softly. He nodded and led me towards his room. God, I love my life.

**A/N: Longer than usual, but not that much, I know. A little cliffy, but you'll have to deal with it. Nothing bad happens, don't worry. I've got it all planned out in my head. R&R!**


	5. Bad Dream

**A/N: Ooh, second update today, on Christmas of all days. Haha, need a break from the rellies. Oh joy. Lunch. Roast and stuff. Eh, pretty good. Sorry, off topic. Here's the next chappie. Wrote it all today! MERRY CHRISTMAS! **

**Disclaimer: Does James Patterson get a Black Eyed Peas CD for Christmas and scream like a girl? I think not. **

I lay there, too terrified to sleep. What was happening to me? Why is everybody turning their backs on me and focusing on everyone _but_ me? Why am I hated? It is still a mystery to me.

Fang snored next to me, and I chuckled softly. But soon I snapped back into reality. My dreams were getting out of control. This is ridiculous. Why now? Why not when I was 14 and on the run? More vulnerable? But no. My conscience seems to be acting up on me now, where I'm safe and happy. God…

_The Flock stood before me, lined up in front of my eyes. Fang stepped forward. _

"_Max." He said. "I love you. But not __**that**__ much." He walked away from me and out the door, spreading his wings. My right-hand-man, best friend, lover, was _gone_. Next in line was Iggy._

"_You've gone too far this time Max. It's not funny anymore." He stated, my own tears prickling in my eyes. I don't cry. I never cry. Not even when I break bones. Not even when I break _**_ribs_**_. I was confused. What was happening? Why was everyone leaving? This didn't make sense. Iggy's blind eyes managed to pick up my confusion. "This makes sense Max, as much as you don't want it to." And with that, he left._

_Next, Nudge stepped forward. She swallowed hard but stayed strong. That's my girl. "I'll never be your girl." She said, and swiftly walked through the door and threw herself into the air, snapping out her wings as she did so. _

_Gazzy avoided my eyes. "No Max. This is too much. I'm not sorry for you, but for us." Selfish much? Gazzy followed the others._

"_Max." Angel said innocently, like she was the little six year old I used to cuddle every night when she had a bad dream. I looked over at her, hoping that she would care about me and stay. Heck, I didn't even know why they were leaving. "I hate you." She said sternly. I looked at her pleadingly but she just scowled. She too threw herself upwards and let her wings to the work. I looked around my house, hoping to find either Ella or Mom to tell me what the heck was going on. As if reading my thoughts, and believe me, I thought only Angel could do it but everyone else has told me otherwise, Mom and Ella stepped into the room. _

"_I hate your guts." Ella said._

"_Let's go El. Get away from this __**disappointment**__." She said, leading Ella out the door and into the car. The engine started and I knew there was no hope for getting them back. _

"_Looks like it's just me and you, kiddo." I knew this voice. It was __**the**__ Voice. But coming from the real world this time. _

_I span around to face him. "What do you want, Jeb?" I spat at him._

"_To run some tests." He brought a syringe to my cheek. _

"_Get off me you creep." I pushed his pale arm away._

"_No." His plunged the needle into my skin on my shoulder, piercing me, but I didn't feel a thing._

"_No?" He asked at my pain free face. "Ok." He jabbed the needle into my neck, making me scream in pain. _But the pain didn't last long. My eyes flew open and I sat up, panting. Nudge's questioning face appeared at the door, followed by Ella's and Iggy's. Had I screamed out loud? Most likely.

Still panting, I managed to choke out, "What?" Fang was rubbing my back with his fist. Wait, Fang? That would explain why it's all dark and black.

"You screamed your heart out." He said softly, as if I was a baby and if he spoke too loud I would cry again.

"I thought someone was dying." Iggy pointed out. I sent him a quick glare, which was wasted on him.

"Yeah, we came to see what happened." Nudge noted.

"I'm fine now, go back to bed." I said.

"Oh yeah, you're fine 'cause you got good ol' Fang there to help you out." Iggy mocked, giggling. Ella and Nudge giggled slightly to.

"Go!" Fang shouted. They scurried away. "God, I hate Iggy sometimes." I nodded in agreement. "You ok?"

"Fine. Go back to sleep. Sorry I woke you."

"What happened?"

"Bad dream."

"What happened?"

"You left, said you hated me, so did everyone else, including Mom and Ella and…" My voice trailed off and I was reduced to sobs. I cried into Fang's bare chest and he rubbed my back soothingly.

"Shhhh. It's ok. Shhhh. I got cha." I tried to calm myself. What's with all this crying lately? It's just not me. Plus, the dream wasn't _that_ bad.

"Jeb came back, and… and…" I got the hic-ups again, but this time from crying. "He tried to inject some crazy thing into my shoulder, but instead _stabbed_ my neck." I started bawling my eyes out now.

"Shhhh. Don't worry Max." I was still crying into his chest. "Come on, lie down." He let go of me and placed me on the bed. He lay down next to me and pulled me towards him. I snuggled up against his chest and he put his arms around me, hugging me. "I'm here Max." I nodded into the pillow. I could hear his breathing on my neck. "Go to sleep. You need the rest. We've only been asleep 2 hours."

A few minutes later I heard his breathing slow and his muscles relax. A few moments after that, I myself fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. But I never let my guard down. It didn't feel safe.

* * *

"MAX! GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED!" God, I'm tired of people saying that.

"No." I mumbled, rolled over and covered my ears with my pillow. I turned to see Fang's sleeping face staring back at me. He was so cute when he slept.

"MAX! NOW!" Mom called from down below. Before, Ella had called, but I couldn't say no to Mom. She could punish me.

"Uhhhgggg." I grumbled to myself.

"Picky." Fang said out of the blue. Since when we he awake? Since Mom called me, probably. He propped himself up on one elbow. "You know, if I were you, I'd take advantage of this opportunity to-."

I cut him off. "To throw a pillow at your head." I said, picking up my own pillow and throwing it at him. Before he could respond, I dashed out the door towards the stairs. When I reached the bottom, I was confronted with Mom.

"Max." She said. "We need to talk." Oh boy, here we go. I love my life, don't you?

**A/N: Any good. I know, extremely cliffy. Sorry. My bad. You might get one more tomorrow, but then I'm going on holidays for a week. Sorry! R&R!**


	6. Late

**A/N: Ah, Christmas was great. Family, friends, annoying cousins. Oh the joy. Got **_**almost**_** everything I wanted, but not the new Black Eyed Peas CD I've been dying for that Mum told me she's get someone to get. Oh well. I got other stuff anyways. (Wait, went shopping today (26****th****) and got it, as well as Glee, season 1 volume 1! Yay! A few naughty words in the chapter. Ooh, I'm so bad, lol! Nah, this is my normal language at home. Well, here you go.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. And it's official!**

"Max."

"Mom."

"Where were you yesterday?"

"Out."

"With who?"

"Who do you think? Fang!"

"Where?"

"In the sky somewhere."

"Why?"

"Why not?" Mom seemed ticked off already, but my last comment seemed to hit her in the gut. Hard.

"Because you were gone for _NINE EFFING HOURS!" _Wow, Mom never swore, and there she was, about to drop the f*** bomb. Never thought I'd see the day. Mom's usually all goodie-goodie. Something was _not right_ about this family right now. Fang and Mom were both acting super weird, and it is _really_ annoying me. "Sorry," Mom rubbed her temples soothingly. "It's just you have no idea how much pressure I've got at work." She apologized.

"Right." I said. "Well, this has been a lovely chat, but I've gotta go." I turned on my heel and swiftly walked away, waiting for her to stop me, but she never did.

I hauled myself up the stairs, my eyes unfocused. I absentmindedly strolled into Fang's room, to find him sleeping quietly in his bed. I clambered in beside him and rolled over so I was facing his body. I didn't close my eyes in an attempt to sleep. I just lay there, studying his face, thinking things over.

Fang is awesome. I totally love him. But I think Mom has some unspoken grudge over him for some reason. She's acting so weird. It's kinda creepy. She says it's 'cause of work, but I don't think I'm buying that. It doesn't seem correct. Something else is up. Too bad I know _nothing_. I wonder if she'll spill something if I try? It's worth a shot.

Fang's gone all mushy, but he seems to be denying anything about the School. But unless I'm still in that dumb dream, he still loves me like hell. I don't think he'd lie to me about the School. It seems unlikely as it is, and Fang's denying it and all, and so… I don't think it's a possibility. Good. I don't want Fang being tested on by the School.

I stared at Fang's closed as if looking for an answer within them. He stirred under my gaze, so I shifted it. And what did my eyes land on? The clock.

"_**2:49! SHIT!**_" I jumped up and leaped out of bed, running around to the other side, shaking Fang as to wake him up. "FANG, UP! IT'S ALMOST THREE IN THE AFTERNOON!" Fang bolted up and looked around, panicky and confused. He then decided to look at the clock to confirm my theory.

"Fuck!" He swore.

"Yeah! Fuck!" I said to his face, totally freaking out. How could I let this happen? I didn't fall asleep, did I? I've missed half the day. But I never did check the time before I went downstairs to Mom. I was running around the room, grabbing some of the clothes that I keep in Fang's room from the closet. Fang chucked a shirt over his head and pulled some (black) jeans on, throwing a leather jacket over the top of that.

God, he looked hot. Max, _snap out of it_. Ok, focus. Shoes. Where? I scanned the room for my sneakers. There, in the corner. I practically stomped them onto my feet.

"Let's go!" I screamed at Fang. How could I do this? God, I'm so dumb. God, _this _is so dumb. Why do we have to go see Angel, Gazzy and Nudge's school meeting? Yeah, they wanted to go to school. What weirdos. But hey, I'm not them, I can't control their thoughts. If they want to go to school, that's fine with me. But I'm not. _Although_, I would have already graduated if I was brought up as a regular human being. But I wasn't, so that's that. Nudge (who probably only wants to go to school to meet boys) would be going to high school, with Ella, but a year younger, Gazzy would be attending middle school and Angel would be in elementary school. But this weird town had one school that was high, middle and elementary school. Perfect.

But why do we have to come to the meetings? Me especially? It seems dumb, but I am the leader and all… Plus I can control our little 10 year old mind-reading friend better than anyone else in the Flock.

And now, after all that, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel wouldn't be accepted into school because we were late to a meeting and it's all my fault. Wait, can they do that? Decline someone because they were late to a meeting? I don't think they can, but right now it seems like a possibility. The meeting started at 2:55. Great. Now it's 3:00.

When Fang and I were ready we ran down the stairs and sprinted though the house. The car was gone. They must have left without us. Fang seemed to be picking up the same thoughts, and so simultaneously we snapped out our wings and threw ourselves into the air.

Flying as fast as I could, without going into hyper-mode, we made it to the school within minutes. I could see our car from a mile away (literally, I love having raptor vision.) and nodded my head in understanding at Fang, who'd sent me some desperate message with his eyes. Wait, what? Fang + message with his eyes = WTH?

Before my feet even touched the ground, I had started running towards the building, following the signs that said 'main office'. I felt like I was in a maze, weaving in and out of hallways and rooms. Thank God students were in classes at the moment. I screeched to a stop breathlessly at the office door and knocked hard on the pale wood. A few moments later a chubby lady came to answer the door.

"How may I help you?" She asked in a board tone.

"Uhh, hi, I'm here to see the principal. I have an appointment." I said hurriedly.

"Sorry, he's in another appointment right now, with 3 young hopefuls."

"Yeah, sorry, that's us. We're just a little late." Fang replied, speaking up for the first time since I shook him awake.

"Martinez?" She asked slowly. Well, at least _not fast_. Didn't she know how much a hurry we were in?

"Yeah."

"Right this way." The lady led us through the door and into a large room full of desks and people working, taking calls. It was busy, but it wasn't loud. It was almost _silent._ The lady walked silently to one of the many surrounding doors. Fang followed, staying silent himself. I wasn't that talented and made my way noisily to the door. The lady opened the door slightly and poked her head though.

"Excuse me sir, sorry to bother you, but you have visitors." She said. I heard a muffled reply and was let into the room. Inside I found my mother, Gazzy, Nudge, Angel and Iggy, all the people I expected to find. But my heart almost stopped when my eyes landed on the man sitting behind the desk.

"Hello, Maximum. Nice of you to join us." The familiar voice struck me like lightning. Shit. What the hell was he doing here?

**A/N: Haha, cliffy. **_**And**_** you have to wait 5 days until I update again. Sorry, going on holiday with my stinky cousins. Yay. Seriously, it is pretty fun. Hope you liked it. I'm giving you 5 days to review. I expect 5 more by the time I get home or I'm not updating! **


	7. Deserving

**A/N: Sorry I'm a bit late, I'm kinda dazed, I've been with at least 25 people for days and now I'm sitting in my room and haven't spoken to anyone in hours, leaving only for food and the bathroom. A few different words in this chappie. I'm Australian, so all those Americans and stuff out there, stuff is spelt a little differently sometimes. Special shout-out to my friend lonewolfrox3264, she's totally cool and amazing writer! Check out her stuff! Also, totally random, but one of Ke$ha's song on her Animal/Cannibal album is 'The Harold Song' and when I first heard it I hated it, I'm not into that sorta stuff. Then, I spent an hour reading Fang (again) and listened to it again and **_**cried**_**. It was kinda awkward coz I was in the car with my parents listening off my iPod and all of a sudden I was crying… anyway, it reminds me of the end of Fang. Look it up… **

**Lenaishel**** : Maybe… You'll see. **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Maximum Ride, this wouldn't be on a fan fiction site, it would be **_**published**_**.**

"What?" I asked, startled. "What are _you_ doing here?" This is _not_ what I expected. To find _him_ here.

"Maximum, I have good reason to be here, reasons I cannot explain to you for privacy reasons." The man told me.

I looked at him, disgusted. "I haven't seen you in years, and suddenly you turn up, expecting me to accept you and let you love me again?" He gave me a pleading look. "No freakin' way buddy. You had your slim chance _years_ ago. You stuffed it up and that's not my fault. Why should _I_ pay?" He took it in slowly, digesting the things I had told him. After a few long moments, he nodded his head slowly.

"I understand Maximum."

"No! You have absolutely no idea! You never did!" I almost screamed. Fang placed his hands on my shoulders soothingly and I heard the door open in the background of my fuming mind, but ignored it. Fang rubbed my back as I glared at him. I tried to calm down, but my scowl took over me. It looks could kill, I bet he would have died a while back. I looked at my Flock who looked at me in surprise. But their eyes widened when the person who walked in only moments ago coughed meaningfully. I felt Fang's head shift to look at the person as well. His hands dropped off my shoulders and his mouth flew open in surprise. I was too tempted to look, and gave into myself. I slowly looked over my shoulder, scanning the Flock sceptically for signs of who. Not even Angel sent me a message giving anything away.

My own mouth dropped when I saw the other man in the room. Everyone was speechless, but of course it was Nudge to speak first, even if it was after a few minute of letting the surprise sink in.

"Jeb?" She whispered.

"Hello." He said, acting as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned. "I thought you weren't going to mess with our lives anymore."

"Well, I have good reason for being here. I need to talk to you Max." He said.

"Why?" I said stubbornly.

"_Privately_." He said. I shook my head.

"Anything you want to say to me you can say in front of the Flock. They're gonna find out anyway."

"No. This is important." Said Jeb.

"But not important enough for the Flock to know?" I said, placing my hands on my hips.

"It's _too_ important for the Flock to know." Jeb emphasised.

"Well, they're gonna find out anyway… you might as well tell them all now, rather than when we get home." I raised my voice, and everyone in the room stared, but Jeb didn't delay on answering.

"Ok. Fine. Self-destruct their little minds. Infuriate them, poison them with words they do not want to believe. Words that _you_ don't want to believe." Jeb got louder as he went on. "Max, the world does not revolve around you and your Flock! There are other more important matters!"

"And yet, they can't hear them!" I have no idea why I was getting so worked up about such a thing as not letting the Flock hear what he had to say. Between you, me and that hat-stand standing in the corner, Jeb might actually be right about this. But I'm not letting him have that over me. I calmed my voice and continued on. "Look. Hate to break it to you Jeb, but a) you're not allowed to be in here, b) I don't really care what you have to say and c) I'm not gonna listen. Whatever you say." Mom broke in.

"Max, honey, listen to what he has to say." Oh, thanks Mom. So you've been all over me and Fang, and _now_ you want to listen to what others have to say? _Really?_ But I'm too stubborn. No way was I going to speak to him.

"Ok, Mom. I love you. I really do." I directed my gaze at her and focused, hard, giving her my best puppy dog face. "But I hate, and I mean _hate_ Jeb. You may trust him, but I don't. I never will again. Six years ago, he ditched us Mom. _Ditched us_. We thought he was dead. But noooooo. He wasn't dead. He was working _against _us. And he _still _won't tell us why. After SIX YEARS Mom. Six years of hatred and lies. You can't seriously expect me to listen to him." I fought. "No. I will _not_ listen to him." Mom gave me a look that said 'do what I say, I am your mother'. "Love ya Mom." I chirped in at the last minute. But her face didn't break. Her eyes sent me a message saying that this wasn't over. I smiled cheesily at her and turned on my heel to face the principal of the school.

"As you were saying, _traitor._" I emphasised the word _traitor_. But all he did was look at me, shocked and confused. He quickly shook his head and snapped out of his confused look, giving me the look I'd seen so many times that said 'oh, right, back to business'.

"Ahh, yes. As I was saying, Maximum…" All eyes left Jeb and swivelled to him. "Before you came in, I was telling your Flock and mother how good-"

"Wait a second, hold up." I interrupted. "How the hell are you principal of this school? And why didn't Mom tell me?"

"I am the principal of this school because I deserve to be. I deserve to be sitting in the chair. I deserve to have the rights the principal has." He started. But yet again, I cut him off.

"Mom? Why didn't you tell me?" I questioned.

"I had no idea." She stated solemnly, staring into my eyes.

"She's telling the truth." Angel spoke up. "She really did have no idea. None of us did."

"Right." I nodded slowly, taking in the information. How could she _not know_ who ran the school. She booked the appointment, didn't she? And Ella? Did she even know who was sitting in the chair across from my standing figure? I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't hear the soft click of the door closing behind Jeb. I was quickly pulled back into reality when I heard him start to talk again.

"I deserve all of the opportunities that the principal of this school has. No one else is better for the job. No one else _deserves _it." Talk about stuck up. I broke into his rant, yet again.

"But you're so young."

"It doesn't matter my age, it just matters that I deserve the role of principal of this school. I _deserve_ it. And I deserve _you_." He flipped his dark blonde hair out of his eyes.

"No freakin' way, Dylan. I'm taken."

**A/N: Like it, love it, hate it? Haha, kept who it was a secret for **_**ages**_**. Did any of you guess who it was? I got one review who thought it was Jeb. Reviews = Love (and more updates! Quicker!)**


	8. Wings

**A/N: Second update in 12 hours or something! I feel **_**special**_**. Yay. Written all totally recently, like, from dinner to now (midnight), with breaks of How I Met Your Mother in between. I **_**still**_** cry when I hear that Ke$ha song. Please, look it up! It's totally worth it! Anyway, on the story! **

**Disclaimer: Wish-list item #1: To own Maximum Ride. Wish-list item #2: To **_**become**_** Maximum Ride**

"But Maximum-" started Dylan.

"No. I don't belong to you. You can want me all you want but I will never be yours. I am my own person. A person with _feelings_. You're starting to act like a whitecoat, like I am a _thing,_ not a _person_."

"Max, it isn't like that. I am no whitecoat." He pleaded.

"And yet he says that, _wearing _a white coat." Iggy muttered, detecting the colour fields and making Gazzy snigger as Nudge tried to casually swipe her hand across her mouth to cover a smile. I ignored Iggy's crude comment and continued with my own rant.

"One question: how did you get the job as the principal here? Aren't you like, four years old?" I asked. Gazzy and Iggy fist-bumped in the shadows and Nudge and Angel giggled. Dylan looked taken aback and was speechless for quite some time. Blushing with embarrassment, he regained his confidence and continued to speak.

"The company from which I originated from explained my situation to the vice-principal after Mr Paul Kennedy, the ex-principal, passed away of old age. The company explained who I was, why I needed a job and that although I am very young, I can do good for this school." He told us.

I nodded. "Right. So basically they just wanted you to be in the same town as me so we might one day cross paths." Dylan shook his head. "Oh, ok then. So they wanted to see if I was in this town, the most likely place I would be, and then get you to run into me on the street so we could live happily ever after." He shook his head again. "Maybe, _maybe_, they wanted to stalk us? Or for you to leave their sights and be on your way? Or for you to die, like we want you to?" Again and again Dylan shook his he in response to my rude, but likely, comments.

"Max-," Mom cut it. "Maybe we should go?"

I nodded. "All in favour of leaving this school and not coming back say aye." I said.

"Aye." Fang whispered in my ear huskily.

"Aye." Iggy stated. "Let's go Gaz."

"Aye." Gazzy agreed and got to his feet.

"Aye." Nudge said cheerily, but somehow managed to glare at Dylan at the same time. Mom too got to her feet. She knew how much I hated Dylan.

"But Max," Angel started. I was so over her and her 'Dylan is a good-guy' act. "What about school?"

"We'll figure something out." I told her worried face. "Don't worry, we will." I turned on my heel and headed straight for the door, turning the handle and pushing it open. I'd been in enough situations in my life where the door wouldn't open, but luckily, this wasn't one of them. My Flock followed me out the door and I headed for the exit of the building.

"Wait, Max. I've got to collect Ella." Mom said.

"Ok. Why don't you two go in the car and we'll fly home?" I shouted though the crowded hallway and Mom nodded and walked away. A few students stopped to look at me. Crap. Had I just shouted that I would _fly_ home in hallway full of young people? This can't be good. Remembering that the entire Flock was famous a few years ago for their wings, I smiled sweetly at my audience. "Yeah, hey. Remember about four years ago when there were those bird kids in the news?" I asked them, making a few nod slowly. Those were the ones who quickly figured out who I was. I opened my wings slightly, getting gasps from the surrounding students. Hey, Dylan would tell the School where we are, so this won't hurt me much more. More and more murmurs broke out from the high school students.

"The bird kids!"

"They're _here_. In _our_ school."

"Wow."

"Wings!"

"So they _are_ real."

"I saw them four years ago when they were _awesome_."

I opened my wings more by the unsaid demand from the students. The rest of the Flock looked at me and I nodded slowly and subtly. Tried to tell Angel to tell Iggy to open his wings, and she obviously got the message because a few seconds later Iggy had his own wings open slightly. My half-open wings felt heavy only half open, so looking around to check I had enough space, which I did, I opened my wings fully, all sixteen feet of them. Yeah, they had grown two feet in the past four years, a lot by bird kid standards.

Standing in the middle of the hallway was attracting attention. Some people had wanted to get though, but were stopped by the crowd of people who were stopped in their tracks, surprised and amazed. I felt a growing number of eyes on me, and I started to feel _really_ uneasy. More and more eyes, more and more people. I started to get dizzy. I fell back slightly and gripped Fang's shirt, holding me up. I tried to smile, and did the best I could. I looked around, to find an amazing amount of eyes on us, but a surprising growing amount of girls. Fang seemed to pick up the same vibes, and to show that he _wasn't _single, put his arm around my shoulders and kissed my neck and then my lips meaningfully. I got lost in his kiss and I felt like we were the only people in the world. It was great, and I got so lost that I almost yelped in surprise when I heard my name being called.

"Max?" Ella screamed, as she pushed through the crowd of people. "Max? Where are you? Max!" She looked taken aback when she found me and Fang making out together in the middle of the hallway with our wings open. "Max!" She screeched again. I pulled away from Fang and looked at her.

"Yeah Ella?" I asked huskily, still drunk on Fang's kiss.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She questioned, starting to sound like Mom."

"Uhh, what does it look like I'm doing? Making out with Fang!" I said with a 'duh' tone.

"With your _wings_ open?"

"Yep." I said, and attempted to retreat to Fang's kiss.

"Why?" She yelled.

"Because we can." I murmured in between kisses and breaths. I tried to block out the rest of Ella's yelling, but never letting myself forget that people were watching. I was so into the kiss that I didn't even notice Libby appearing in the background, startled.

"You _know_ the bird kids?" She asked, not seeing my face.

Ella looked awkward. "Uhh, yeah… Remember when I tell you about my sister, _half _-sister, Max?" Libby nodded. Ella lifted her arm slowly and pointed at me, making out with Fang. Libby's mouth dropped into a 'o' shape in surprise.

"And you didn't _tell me_!" She screamed, forcing me to pull back from Fang to look at all the commotion. That's when it _really_ hit me. I was in a crowded hallway, having given up on my secret identity. I felt naked and bare. Crap, am I? I looked down at my body to find myself fully dressed. But I felt _truly_ bare. I had just unveiled my identity and have had to deal with about a hundred girls drooling all over Fang. Hey, I might be strong, but some things in life are a bit too much for me. _Especially_ all at one time. I looked into Fang's eyes deeply, my arms still around his neck and caught in his hair. I smiled and so did he. I looked around to find girls everywhere glaring at me, wishing Fang were theirs. But no. Fang is _mine_.

"Libs, calm _down_. I woulda told you, but I couldn't. You know I couldn't. There are _reasons_ behind this Libs. _Reasons._" Ella pleaded.

"But I'm your best friend! You coulda at _least_ told me!"

"No! I couldn't of, and you know that!"

"But I talk about them _all_ the time! You know it's my dream to meet the bird kids!"

"Actually, Fang's a man." I cut in, clinging to his chest, causing a few sniggers from some of the young, high school men in the crowd. But Ella and Libby chose to ignore my comment.

"I _know_ you've always wanted to meet the bird kids! But you never will fly, as much as you dream to, for whatever the reason." Her eyes flickered meaningfully at Iggy for a slight second. I think I was the only one to notice it, and I kept it to myself. But Fang was gonna find out later… but I didn't say anything! Ha… ha… ha…

"And were you _ever_ gonna tell me?"

"Yeah! I was!" Ella lowered her voice. "I had it all planned out_._ Before you come over tomorrow night I was going tell Max and Fang to go out flying right before you show up, so then we could look out our window and see them fly in. Either that, or I was going to tell you straight up. I was still working on the plan ok?"

Libby raised her voice again. "But you _still_ didn't tell me before!" Just as Ella was going to reply to Libby's argument, one of the most dreaded people in the world showed up in the middle of the hallway.

"What is going on here?" Dylan boomed, puffing out his chest and trying to sound all principally. Haha, never gonna happen dude.

Ella cocked her head slightly. "Dylan?" She asked, a wondering look on her face.

"Dylan?" Libby asked. "Who's Dylan? That's the new principal. He's been here for a week."

"A week? Dylan's been here for a week and I didn't know about it?" Ella exclaimed.

"Everyone! Go home! Now!" Dylan boomed, and almost everyone hurried away, except the Flock, Ella and Libby.

"What the hell are you doing here Dylan?" Ella asked, still totally confused and not-filled in.

"You _know _him?" Libby whispered into her ear.

"Yeah, we know 'im. Don't like him, but know him." I told her. I heard my name, followed by Ella's name, being called faintly down the hall. If it weren't for my raptor hearing, I would have heard absolute silence. Suddenly, Mom turned the corner and ran towards up, arms open.

"Ella! I found you!" She yelled, running carefully in her high-heals. Slowing down, she looked from Ella, to Libby, to Dylan to Angel and Nudge, Iggy and Gazzy, when finally her gaze settled on Fang and I. "I heard some say that the bird kids were around, and I followed my instinct and found you here. Well done for keeping it a secret by the way. Amazing job." She said sarcastically, putting her hands on her hips. "Let's go! Move it! Now!" She called, and almost everyone jumped into action, including Libby, who was now apparently coming home with us. Everyone except Dylan, Mom, Fang and I started walking briskly down the hall. I watched as Ella and Libby walked away, murmuring quietly to each other. Nudge and Angel had their hands flapping all over the place, obviously talking about some girly thing that I wouldn't know about, nor care about. And Gazzy and Iggy walked away talking loudly of different sorts of bombs. Surprise, not.

"This conversation isn't over yet Maximum." Yikes. She called me Maximum, which she only does when she's _really_, _truly_ angry.

**A/N: A **_**lot**_** longer than usual. It's mostly 4 pages on word with font size 12, but now it's 6 and a half pages! Go me! Haha, 2076 words. LONNNNGGG. So, how'd you like it? Please tell! It really makes my day! No cliffy (yay!) but scary almost… Reviews make me HAPPY! Oh, and also, I've had a few reviews wanting **_**more**_** (wink wink) between Fang and Max, which this was never supposed to be like. But I'm open to suggestions. So do you want**_** more**_** or not? If there's more I have to change the rating I think. **


	9. Saved

**A/N: Sorry! I feel so bad! It was like, 3 days since I last updated! Ooh, I'm so bad. Haha. Well. Hope you like this chappie! It's not my best, but I think it was worth missing my bro's birthday stuff for! It DEFINITLY was. Soooooo boring. **

**Disclaimer: Maximum Ride is not mine. Fang, however, is.**

Flying back home was exhilaratingly _boring_. All I could hear was Nudge and Angel blabbering on about shoes and hair, and Gazzy and Iggy ahead of us howling with laughter at something that probably wasn't that funny. And my thoughts were occupied with what Mom was going to say to me. I had just told hundreds of people the biggest secret of my life, so who could blame her? As we landed on our front lawn, Mom's car pulled up, and out jumped Ella and Libby, BFF's again. They too, were talking about shoes and make-up and pointless stuff like that.

Mom walked to the door, unlocking it, and walked into the house, flicking the lights on as she went. She put her bag down in her office as the rest of the Flock, Ella and Libby piled into the house.

"I got dinner!" Iggy called as he jogged into the kitchen, almost knocking down Nudge and Angel. "Who's up for some smoked salmon?" The Flock cheered in agreement.

"The blind guy _cooks_?" Libby looked confused.

"Yep. And he's the best at it out of all of us." Ella confirmed.

I walked in and attempted to walk to my room, without looking at anyone, besides Fang, who was holding my hand lovingly, letting himself get dragged around. I was half way up the stairs when I was stopped by the one voice I was dreading to hear.

"Maximum! Get back down here now!" Mom called up the stairs at me. I was stopped in my tracks, and slowly turned my head to look at her, gathering as much sympathy as I could from Fang. I hoped he understood that the pleading look in my eyes meant that he should back me up. But c'mon, I'd be surprised if he didn't.

"Yeah Mom?" I asked, my feet rooted to the ground.

"Come down here." She said sternly, her face in a death glare, her second death glare in two days. Ouch.

"Why?" I asked sweetly.

"You know why Maximum. You and I need to talk. _Without_ Fang." She looked me straight in the eye, sending shivers, _bad_ shivers, down my spine. In my mind, I called for Angel's help.

_Angel! Angel! Hello? Come on, read my mind already… help me out here…_ I pleaded mentally, whist plastering a Bambi face over my own rock hard one. It took her a while to answer, about 20 seconds, which is long by her standards.

_K Max_, she told my mind, whist turning to look at Mom. Suddenly, Mom's eyes went a little weird, creepy weird, and she opened her mouth to speak.

"Actually, Fang can come." She said. Ok, that's ok. I mean, I was expecting for Angel to actually get me out of this completely, but sure, Fang makes it better. At one point in my life, the Flock would have killed me for saying that, but now it was accepted. They know I love Fang in a more than friend/brother way… even though they do get annoyed at it at times.

Mom beckoned me _kindly_ (thanks a bunch Angel!) down the stairs and ushered me and Fang into her office.

"Max."

"Mom." Wow, second time that's happened today.

"Fang!" He said, chuckling quietly to himself. Suddenly, hot and delicious smells that I'd missed last night, wafted through the door and into the small room. I took a breath in a smiled at the delicious smell, temporarily forgetting about the problem at hand. I sat down in one of the guest chairs across from Mom's desk and settled into the light plush. I took hold of Fang's hand, which I had released some time ago, and pulled him down to sit in the neighbouring chair. I tilted my head back so it fell of the top of the seat and sighed.

"Maximum." Mom said, snapping me out of my fantasy. "What you did today was _not_ acceptable. You hear me? Not acceptable. You do realise that you have just blown the biggest secret of not only your own life, but five others' as well? This is _not_ acceptable, Maximum! Not acceptable!" I looked up to find my mother standing with her hands on the table, supporting herself as she told me off. Her face was full of anger and aggravation, and the death glare she sent me was _not_ a good sign. Three death glares in two days from the person who would almost positively be voted 'Most Likely Person to Live Their Entire Life without Giving a Death Glare' is _not_ good. At all. I snuck a glance at Fang, and he gave me a reassuring look, reminding me that it would be alright. People were gonna find out anyway.

"You're lucky that the whole school didn't see it! Then the whole town would have known! This is serious Maximum! I can't believe you did that! This is ridiculous!" Mom glared at me. No death glare, but maybe a coma glare. Haha, get it? No… oh, ok… moving on…

"Max. Look." Mom lowered her voice and sat down calmly. "This is big. Bigger than you can imagine. Much bigger. It's important. Now the School will know. And the remainders of Itex. And so many others. We'll have news crews barging through our door, day in and out. All because you made some little mistake of _opening your wings_!" Her lowered voice got louder as she spoke, and my heart sunk every time she did.

God, this is all my fault! I'm such an idiot! I could've made some dumb lie about how I lived far away and would meet her there by plane, as she needed to go back to her house before. Or acted like some snobby girl with billionaires as parents who know Dr Scary and Nino Pierpont who could just hop on one of her many pink private jets and go to my own house in Hollywood. I could have ran away. I could have acted like I had some mental illness. But, _no_, I decided to blow our cover as mutant-bird kids and any chance of us becoming normal people around here. Not cool Max, not cool.

It suddenly struck my mind that I was still in the room with Mom and Fang. And Mom was still ranting. "Max, this is _unacceptable_! You get that Max, _not acceptable_!" I looked up at her face, red from her underlying rage. She took a breath in, trying to calm herself, unsuccessfully. I looked at Fang, who was staring back at my with his emotionless face. But his eyes flashed concern and sympathy.

It felt like hours before Mom shut up, and if I know her, it might have been. Finally, Mom shut-up, for good this time. Quite a few times I thought she was done and started talking, making her angrier than she already was, which I didn't know was possible.

"You got that Max? I have no idea what to do with you!" She put a hand to her temple, trying to calm down and think up a suitable punishment at the same time, which I can tell you, wasn't working. I nodded my head at Fang, invisible to Mom's closed eyes.

"Well, uhh, I think I smell dinner." Fang said, and I felt like he had just saved my life. As if on cue, Iggy screamed throughout the house.

"Guys! Dinner's ready!" He called. _Thank you __**so**__ much Ig!_ I mentally thanked.

"Ok, we'll finish this discussion later." Mom concluded, and I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding, in relief. "Go! Get out of my office! I'll be with you in a second!" Wow, I had never seen Mom so mad. This can't be good. Especially for me. Bad time for Libby to show up.

I stumbled into the kitchen and took a seat at the dining table. Fang sat next to me and he glanced at me before Iggy set out the food on the table. Under the table Fang took my hand and laced our fingers together. I smiled to myself at the contact. It was comforting. Mom sat down at the head of the table.

"Dig in." She mumbled, just loud enough for everyone else to hear. Silence. Well, this is awkward.

**A/N: Haha, awkwardness. Kind of like how I'm feeling now, with my 7 year old interrogating me about this. I haven't told anyone I know personally that I write fanfiction, and I accidently spilt that I was writing a book thing story. AWKWARD. She's all like "are you gonna show anyone?" and "can you show me?" and "are you gonna show your parents?" and "read me more!". yeah, I made the mistake of reading some to her. Yeah… not good result. At least she thinks it's good! Review and make my crap day better. **


	10. Tickles

**A/N: Haha, just realised that it was a day before I last updated, not 3! Yay! I'm not bad anymore! Whoop whoop, it's party time!**** I got pleads for more Fax from loads of people, and I know I'm getting a little off topic, but I gotta finish this whole 'wing' thing. I didn't mean to start it, it just kinda came out. **

**Disclaimer: Me girl. JP boy. Me not him. **

All through dinner we sat in silence. Nudge managed to feel the tension and was smart enough to shut up, which surprised me. We sat in silence to wait for the last person to finish, who was Gazzy (surprise surprise) and as he went through his 6th serving of salmon and salad (mostly the salmon), I gave up on being silent. God, how could Fang do this all day? It's _torture_.

"Look, I'm going to bed." I stated, standing up from my seat and grabbing my plate as to put it in the dishwasher. Fang took the hint that I had _not_ intended to drop and stood up himself.

"Yeah, me too." I glanced at him with a blank face, only to find his own blank, emotionless face staring back at me. A massive crash of metal suddenly filled the ever silent room. I looked at Gazzy, who looked bright and happy as ever.

"Dr M, can I have some more?" He pleaded, almost loud enough to block out the annoyed groans in the background. Poor Libby. Walks into Ella in the hallway to find that her best friend's half-sister is two per cent bird, then comes home with us and eats a meal cooked by some blind dude and now has to sit through Gazzy eating. And if she stays the night, _God_ I feel for her. But hey, if she likes Ella, then she better get used to it.

Mom said nothing to either Fang or I as we walked up the stairs, hand in hand, having a cutesy little hallmark moment. He suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"What?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"I just remembered something."

"What?" I repeated.

"Today is the 17th, right?"

"Yeah…" I looked uncertain.

"Oh, _crap_!" He said, looking worried. I gave him a confused look. "I'll be back. Go to sleep. I gotta go do something."

"Wha-." I started, but he was already out the door and in the air. I went into his room and watched him fly away, looking lustfully at his onyx wings and imagining his midnight black eyes staring into mine. Where was he going? It was beyond me, and standing looking out Fang's window wasn't going to do me any good. I lay down on his bed, kicking off my shoes. I let my legs hand over the edge a bit.

_I should probably get changed and have a shower_. I thought. _Pft. No way, it's waaaaaaay too comfortable here. _Soon I was out cold, huddled in a little ball on Fang's black bed sheets.

* * *

Fang returned home hours later. He was tired and needed some sleep. He crept past Ella, Libby and a sleeping Nudge, who must have fallen asleep during their last chick flick.

"Later." He whispered, making both Ella and Libby jump in surprise.

"_Don't_ do that again, or you will one day wake up bald. Too bad for Max, I know how wrapped up she gets in your hair." Ella taunted and Libby giggled. Fang's face flushed a light shade of red before he returned to his normal colouring. Tip-toeing up the stairs (which wasn't necessary, Fang was the master of silence), he strode into his darkened room and took off his shirt and jeans, leaving him in his boxers. Turning around and looking at his bed, he noticed a large, dark lump on his bed. At first he thought it to be an Eraser, but soon realised that the lump was in fact Max. He chuckled to himself.

* * *

I woke with a start as someone jolted me out of position. My eyes stayed shut, much to the dismay of whoever or_ whatever_ was holding me.

"Five more minutes." I mumbled.

"Max, wake up, it's just me." Fang said.

"But I want five more minutes!" I whined, my eyes still closed.

"Max! Do you want to stay in here with me?" Fang asked, and I nodded. "Well, get up, go away and _change_. You'll stink up my whole room with your stink from wearing the same clothes twice." My eyes fluttered open.

"Babe, we lived on the streets for _years_. You don't care about stink." I told him. "Now, put me down!" Fang had been holding me bridal style, trying to shift me on his bed, but eventually just picking me up. He placed my feet back on the floor and I turned to face him. "What's the time?" I asked.

"Almost midnight. I think Ella and Libby are going to bed soon."

"Ok." I said. We stood in silence for a moment, as if waiting for a reply. Suddenly, I ran over to Fang's bed and flopped onto it, belly first. "But I'm still not changing!" I called to Fang. He dived after me, trying to grab my legs. I jumped up and down on his bed like a little kid, laughing hysterically. Fang tackled me down, lying on top of me.

"You know, I think I like it better this way." He stated, and then started tickling my stomach, my most ticklish area that I've found. So far. I screeched with laugher as he touched my neck, causing me to fall off the bed and bring him down with me, creating a big crashing sound. I thrashed about on the floor as Fang tried to get the better of me. He was almost sitting on top of me and I was howling with laugher at the same time as trying to take a breath in.

"Fang- stop- it- please,- that tickles- a lot- Fang-." I was cut off by Fang's lips touching mine. I kissed him hungrily, as he did the same back to me. I ran my hands up and down his toned chest as one of Fang's hands gripped my hair, getting it caught in the dark snarls and the other held my thigh. He let my tongue into his mouth, and we fought for dominance. My tongue roamed his mouth, exploring every crease and curve. My hands found their way up to Fang's hair and I got my hands tangled up in it. We went on like that, rolling around on the floor, for what seemed like hours, when another presence caught me off guard.

I pulled away from Fang, leaning my forehead on his.

"Babe, what is it?" Fang asked from on top of me.

"I swear I heard someone." I replied, tugging softly on his hair.

Just as Fang was about to speak, someone cut him off. "Look, I know you guys like each other, but do you really have to be squealing and sucking face with each other, half naked might I add, at this hour? I mean really guys, c'mon. Be realistic." Ella said, making Libby giggle. "Oh, and I told you Max would miss your hair… babe." They both laughed, hard this time and walked off in the direction of Ella's room.

"She's so dead." I said, trying to get out from under him.

"They were just joking around." Fang argued gently.

"I know, but _still_. What's their problem? _They_ opened the door and walked into the room." I retorted.

"Let's just go to bed, ok? It's past midnight now." Fang said.

"Ok." I sounded defeated, like a little girl whose parents had threatened to take away her dolls.

"Go get some new clothes." Fang instructed, getting off me.

"Ok." I repeated, standing up and walking to the door.

"And don't forget to brush your teeth."

"Ok."

"And could you grab me some caffeine free Coke whilst you're at it?"

"No freakin' way." I answered sourly. Fang just laughed at my reaction and plopped himself onto his bed.

I love my life.

**A/N: I think that's one of my best chapters, right? I like it. I've almost got 50 reviews, and the 50****th**** gets a Fang cookie! You know you want it… **


	11. Lyrics

**A/N: Ok, this is chap 11! Wow, so far. Over 15 THOUSAND words. Longer than that auto-biography I wrote in grade 6. It was 6 thousand words at size 14 of my primary school years. Sad, isn't it. Ha. And if you haven't listened to that song (the Harold Song, by Ke$ha, God, how many times do I have to remind you?) then it's gonna come back to bite you… dun dun duh! Haha.**

**And the Fang cookie goes too… ****iamatrombone4142! Thanx for the 50****th**** review! Thanx to everyone else too who reviewed (in hope for that beloved Fang cookie! Haha) **

**Disclaimer: Do I **_**look**_** like JP? (Look at my profile pic) Coz if you think I do, that's insulting.**

The next morning, I woke to the sound of Fang snoring softly by my side. I propped myself up on my elbow and looked at him, smiling to myself. He looked so damn peaceful when he slept. I looked up slightly and saw the illuminated clock. 11:34am. Eh. He can look peaceful some other time.

"Fang." I whispered in his ear, stretching out his name. "Fa-ang." I repeated.

"Wha-? Five more minutes." He said (well, at least that's what it sounded like) and rolled over. Time to wake the dead.

"FANG!" I screamed in his ear, and I jumped on top of him, shaking my weight around. Fang's eyes shot open and quickly registered what was going on. Suddenly alive and awake, Fang flipped me off him and sat on top of me, carefully balancing out his weight, as to _not_ squash me.

"You think you're so cool, huh? Huh?" He joked, tickling me again.

"Stop!- Fang- stop- ahh- tickles- stop- STOP- not- funny." I laughed, making Fang crack up as well. I took the rare opportunity of Fang's laugher to flip him off me and take control again. Sitting on top of him, holding down his arms with my knees, I tickled Fang's neck, making him smirk. Ok, not Fang's most ticklish spot. I tried his underarm, and all that happened was me making a face. It smelt _disgusting_. I looked deep into Fang's eyes, trying to see if there was any place he was actually ticklish.

"Where?" I breathed on his lips. He closed the gap between us and brought the rest of me down along with my lips. His tongue swirled around on my lips and I laughed softly without breaking the kiss, and letting him in. As his tongue invaded my mouth, I sucked a little on his lower lip, making him moan occasionally. My hands ran through his hair and I tugged, feeling Fang within his _hair_. Fang got one of his hands caught in the snarls of my hair the other cupped my cheek. I pulled him towards me by pulling hard on his hair, but not hard enough to hurt him. The hand that was cupping my cheek was quickly gone, and was now running up and down my side, memorising every curve, every bump, every part of me. He finally settled on my thigh, and he stroked it every ten seconds or so. I felt like I was in heaven. I pulled back, gasping for breath, leaning my forehead on Fang's.

"You know, Ella and Libby explained that this happened last night." I looked up at the doorframe, and I found Nudge leaning on it. "Too bad I was asleep to see. But do you have to do it again? It seems like you're making out every second of the day! Can't you just _slow down_? I mean, it's early in the morning, how long ago did you wake up? Ten, twenty minutes ago? Half an hour at the max? Really guys? Really? This is just-," a swift, thin hand cut her off.

"Nudge. Shut up." Iggy stated, looking at her nose in disgust. Nudge looked upset and walked away from Iggy, her hands in her skinny jeans' pockets. Fang kissed me on the lips lightly and I kissed back hungrily. "Hey, I never said you too shouldn't shut up too. God, I can hear you from downstairs moaning. You know, any second now, Angel is gonna walk in on you too naked. Don't kill her young mind any more than I have." He smiled a mischievous grin and walked away.

"Some people…" I said, forcing a smile to erupt on Fang's face.

"C'mon. We gotta get up." Fang rolled over from under me and flipped himself off his bed, holding out his hand. I smiled and took it, and he pulled me to my feet.

"I'm gonna go have a shower, kay?" I said.

"Can I come?" Fang pleaded.

"No. You heard what Iggy said. Think about _Angel_. She's _ten_, Fang, _ten_." I stated.

"Fine. I never liked you anyway." He sounded like a five year old. He plastered an upset face on his own, impassive one, and I just laughed. He stood like that for a moment before his lips twitched and a smiled played up on his face.

I walked out of the room and headed towards my bedroom door to collect some clean clothes. Stepping into the room, it suddenly hit me how much time I've been spending in Fang's room and not my own. The past two nights I hadn't slept in my own bed. Those two nights felt like a lifetime. I had been in my room a number of times, to collect clothes and what not, but my days seemed to be filled with 'Fang time'. Now that I thought about it, sometimes my mind got clouded and all I thought about was him. You ever heard those songs, the ones that have girls singing about how they can't get enough? Songs like Your Love is My Drug by Ke$ha from a while back. Stuff like Teenage Dream from Katy Perry. That's what I feel like now. Fang is my drug. I love him to death, I really do.

Snapping out of my song scenario, jogged over to my closet and dug for some jeans and a clean tank-top. Picking up my old iPod classic and its speakers, I headed for the door leading into the bathroom Angel, Nudge, Ella and I shared. Plugging my speakers into the wall and attaching my iPod to them, I turned the shower on to hot and stripped down of all my clothes. Clicking the songs onto shuffle and stepping into the warm shower, what song comes on but Grenade. I started humming along to the verse let the water run onto my bare body. I had never really listened to the words, mostly the music of this song. But listening to the chorus, I gasped. Would Fang do that to me? I would for him, but what if I was the singer, and Fang was that person I liked, but didn't like him back. Would I catch a grenade for him? I decided it was time to change the song before it had even reached the second verse.

And what song should come on but the Harold Song, by Ke$ha. The song that I once listened to when Fang had left me and I bawled my eyes out for over 5 hours, just thinking about_ that_ song. It was a song I dreaded. It was a song I hoped I would never hear again. I fumbled about with the water resistant remote, trying to change the song for quite some time. Anything was better than this song. But the remote wasn't working and I stood in the shower in silence, listening to the chorus, letting the water dump down on me.

_They say that true love hurts,__  
__Well this could almost kill me.  
Young love murder,__  
__That is what this must be.__  
__I would give it all,__  
__To not be sleeping alone.  
Alone.__  
__The life is fading from me,__  
__While you watch my heart bleed.  
Young love murder,  
That is what this this must be.__  
__And I would give is all,__  
__To not be sleeping alone.  
Alone._

A single tear fell on my face and I gulped down the pain. Soon, tears lined my cheeks and I was sobbing silently. The music had changed, but the lyrics still rung in my head. Over and over they played and I gave into myself again. The silent sobs turned into crying like hell and wincing in pain. I fell to the ground and huddled in a little heap on the floor, sobbing. Water splashed down on me and I cried harder in the pain. Everything else drowned out around me. Now it was only me and pain. Broken hearted pain. I felt like I was in a horrible dream from time to time, but my tears told me otherwise. They were _real_ tears.

A knock on the door brought my back into reality.

"Max! Get out! You've been in there for like, an hour already!" Nudge cried. I quickly turned off the water, grabbed my clothes, threw my towel around my and opened the door to a surprised Nudge. I rushed out the door and into my room, flinging myself onto my bed, my towel still wrapped around me, bawling my eyes out, whimpering, whining, feeling pain that I wished I couldn't.

* * *

Nudge walked into the steam filled bathroom from which Max had fled from. She looked around as to ensure that there were no Erasers hiding within it, to find it empty. She set her things down on the counter, to find Max's old iPod Classic, paused on The Harold Song.

"Oh, no. Oh no, oh no, oh no." She said, sounding scared and pleading. Nudge and Ella had been the only ones that Max told about the song, and since Ella was at school, Nudge would have to deal with this herself.

**A/N: Told you it'd come back to bite you! I think it was a pretty good chapter, what do you think? I don't really like the ending, but it had to be said... Review please and tell me what you thought. Or just what you thought about the song. Or what you had for breaky this morning. Or just a bunch of random letters. Just REVIEW!**


	12. Tears

**A/N:** **Chapter 12… dun dun duh! Here it is… all of it! GASP! I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN LIKE, 3 OR 4 DAYS! Let's see if Fang helps Max out… blah blah blah… well, I already know, but you don't! Oh, and I just realised that the last chapter sounds like a song fic! Oh well. On with the story! Oh, and I here are a few replies to some of the review's I've been getting. Hey, this is the longest A/N I've ever had I think. I'm pretty sure it competes with chapter 7, and wins.**

**I have an idea for another fic and I'm forcing myself to not start it, coz then I won't finish this one, and I love this one so much! **

**Thanx to lonewolfrox3264, she's commented on EVERY CHAPTER except chapter 5 and my recent chapters, probably because she's away. U ROCK ROX! Haha… private kinda joke thing that I don't think she'll even get…**

**ArtemisandApollorock26: No, you're not weird and nothing's wrong with you. I was just all tired and annoyed and I have read Fang 4 times so I remember it really well and I was just getting to the end when he leaves and blah blah blah... **_**that's**_** why I cried. But yeah, it's all really sad anyway. **

**xXjaziXx: Nope. The same thing that happened in chapter 10 happened in chapter 11, just a little different… just kinda following on from what happened the night before, you know…**

**Disclaimer: James Patterson writes books. I write fanfiction. What does this establish? I'M NOT HIM.**

I lay on my bed, wrapped in my towel, soaked from both my shower and my tears. Suddenly, there was a knock on my door, and before I even answered, Nudge and Fang had walked into my room. Sitting down on either side of me, Fang stroked my back in between my wings, trying to comfort me.

"I told Fang what happened." I think that's the shortest statement I've ever heard Nudge utter. Five words. Setting records here, are we?

"All of it?" I mumbled weakly into my tear stained pillow.

"Yeah. All of it." Fang said soothingly.

"Why, Nudge? Why?" I lifted my head up and looked at her, giving her the best glare I could before I let my head flop back down.

"Because I know he can help. He can fix this. He never meant to hurt you by leaving!" Nudge exclaimed. I cried into my pillow. That stuff was supposed to be _private_!

"Max, baby, you know that I never _meant_ to hurt you! I was gone two weeks. But I came to my senses! Please, stop all this. I'm right here, forever by your side and not going anywhere." Fang pleaded, begging for my forgiveness. I turned my head to face him, holding up my left hand, my five fingers spread.

"Five sentences." I said quietly, smiling weakly. Fang smiled back at me, lifting my mood slightly. He lifted me up and pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back, holding on tightly, not wanting to let go. Because I last time I let go, he left. And that's what caused this whole thing.

"I love you Max." He whispered in my ear, making my cling tighter.

"I love you to." I said, a single tear rolling down my cheek.

"And I want you to know, that I'll never leave again. I love you too much to hurt you." I nodded into his chest, letting tear after tear roll down my face and stain his shirt. He lifted my chin to look up at him. I looked deep into his eyes to find that there was something in there; regret. He kissed me softly on my lips and I kissed back, holding on for dear life. I pulled away and hugged him, and he hugged back, rubbing my back in between my wings.

Nudge silently left. She must have noticed that we were having a moment and I was in a towel. Yeah, I'm kinda glad she did.

Fang and I leant our foreheads together, me smiling up at him, him smiling down at me.

"I love you Max." He said again, causing me to burst into another flood of tears. I cried into his shirt, and he sat me up straight, grabbed my spare clothes and picked me up bridal style. My arms clung to his neck, my head buried deep in his chest. He adjusted me so that I was all covered by my towel and carried me down the hall. As he was about to turn into his room, Nudge and Angel walked up beside him.

"She's really sad, Fang. She doesn't want you to leave." Angel said, reading my mind. He nodded and turned away as Angel walked off. Nudge placed her hand on one of Fang shoulders, and he looked around. Whispering in his ear, his face brightened, but his emotions stayed the same. Fang nodded every once in a while.

"You got that? You can't really mess it up, but you can kinda… It's all a matter of timing-." Nudge rambled, but Fang cut her off.

"I got it." He said. I was now sobbing into his shirt silently, listening to all around me, but at the same time remembering things I didn't want to remember.

_He loves you Max. Just remember that._ I told myself. _He won't leave. It's just a song._ Over and over I pleaded to myself, wanting to stop crying. Fang walked me into his room and placed my feet on the ground. I stood there, my head bent, gulping down as much air as I could. He lifted my chin up, staring into my eyes.

"Go put your clothes on." He said, and I rushed to the bathroom, not even bothering to get dry, chucking my top over my head and my feet through my jean holes. I ran through the door and into Fang's room, looking everywhere for him. When he was nowhere to be seen I started to panic.

"Fang?" I called. "Fang?" My eyes darted here, there, everywhere, trying to find him.

"Max, calm down, I'm here." I deep voice said behind me.

"Fang!" I said, rushing up to hug him tight, making him stumble and fall back. I didn't care, I just wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed. "Where'd you go?" I questioned.

Fang gasped for breath. "Need. Air." He choked out. I let go a little, and Fang sucked in a deep breath.

"Sorry. Got a little carried away, that's all." I told him.

"Don't worry, I only went downstairs to get something to drink. I almost brought you some but decided not to. I'm kinda glad I didn't, otherwise I'd have orange juice all over my face." He explained.

Again I held up my hand. "Five sentences." I said, all teary-eyed. What's with all this crying lately? It's just not me!

Fang laughed at my comment. "Actually, it was three sentences. If we wrote it down, it'd have two commas and three full stops."

"Shut up. You're starting to sound like Nudge." I said, hitting him playfully.

"I better be careful, otherwise I'll have slap marks all over my lips from where you've hit me to stay shut up." He said, and I laughed at his comment.

"I heard that!" Nudge called from her room down the hall. Fang and I both laughed at Nudge, eyeing each other carefully. It ended up as some stare down, and I of course lost, with Fang being the Master of Silence and Stares or whatever. It suddenly occurred to me that I was lying on top of Fang at that very moment.

"You know, you looked very sexy on the floor." I said to him, smiling my best evil smile. I rested my forehead against his.

"I know. Don't I always?" He replied, and I laughed mentally at his little joke.

"Yeah." I said huskily. I kissed him softly on his nose, then his chin, then his cheek and then his other cheek, teasing him. I finally kissed him lightly on the lips. He kissed me back, which was not what I was expecting, but I went with it anyway. Suddenly, his tongue pushed against my lower lip, asking for entrance. _He doesn't even have to ask_. I said to myself, smiling on the inside. As Fang's tongue raided my mouth, I nibbled at his lower lip, and he let a soft moan escape his mouth.

"Nice look guys." Said Gazzy, appearing at the doorway. I pulled away and jumped off Fang, all in one swift motion.

"Whadya want?" I asked quickly, standing at the door, my hand on the handle. But Gazzy was too mesmerized with something else. I looked over to Fang quickly, and the back to Gazzy. He was staring at Fang's mouth, only closing and pulling his tongue back in now.

"Were you guys… _French_ kissing?" He asked. Ok, I'm sorry, but how does a twelve year old boy who's obsessed with farting and making bombs know what French kissing is? Fang got to his feet and dusted off his jeans, as I nodded slowly.

"EWWWWW!" Gazzy squealed and ran away. Fang and I laughed.

"Little does he know that someday soon, he'll be in our position." Fang laughed. I sent him a glare. "But, not, uhh, too soon." Fang quickly recovered, and I just laughed.

"Joking, joking." I said, pulling him away from his bedroom. "C'mon. Let's go." I said, walking down the stairs, my finger intertwined with Fang's.

**A/N: Sorry, for me that felt like I was writing fluff, but soon the story will reappear! And by soon, I mean next chapter! I have it all planned out (well, the next chapter or so at least) so don't worry, it's all under control. Review and it'll be up faster!**


	13. Bitten

**A/N: Ok, to make up for last time, this will be a short A/N. End A/N.**

**Disclaimer: Ok, by chapter 13, you think you woulda learnt something by now!**

"Wait! Max!" Fang said, stopping me in my tracks. I looked around warily, making sure nothing was about to jump out at us. "Calm down, no one's here." He assured me, and my tensed muscles relaxed.

"What?" I questioned.

"Well…" Fang started.

"Spit it out!" I said impatiently, tapping my foot on the ground repeatedly, _just_ to annoy him.

"Well, since Ella and Zach are going out, I was wondering… if you wanted to as well. Like, on a date." He said shyly, grinning under his breath.

I laughed. "But Fang, we've been together for almost four years now, and you want to take me on a date _now_?"

"Exactly. Four years _tonight_." He explained. "It's our four yearversary."

"I thought only girls were supposed to make up stupid anniversary names."

"Yeah… Nudge's idea." He blushed. Yeah, Fang _blushed_.

"Right. So, you're starting to listen to Nudge now, are you?" I asked.

"I heard that." She said, right on time, walking casually past us and down the stairs. I laughed, and Fang gave a small chuckle.

"C'mon! It'll be fun!" Fang begged. And yes, this _is_ Fang we're talking about. The same Fang who managed to blush and beg in the same conversation.

"Ok, ok. Tone it down with the begging, please, you're starting to creep me out." I complained, using my hands for emphasis.

"Is that a yes?"

"I said, OK!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air. Before I could put them down, Fang grabbed my wrist in his large hands and pushed me lightly against the wall. Leaning my forehead against his, he looked deep into my eyes. The amount of times he's done that today is just amazing! Since when has Fang been so deep? I pushed the thought to the back of my mind, and pulled Fang in for a kiss that he had wanted to start himself. His lips crashed onto mine, and he released my hands. I settled them in Fang hair, getting my fingers caught in it. His arms snaked around my back, pulling me closer to him. His hands started playing around with my shirt, tugging it every now and then. Suddenly, my back felt cold, and I went into panic mode for a moment until I realised it was Fang. His hands played around on my lower back whilst I removed my fingers from his hair, and drew little circles with my fingernail on his neck. Fang's hand's climbed higher and higher up my back, until he reached my bra strap. He stopped for a moment, thinking.

"Yes." I murmured onto his lips. Fang's hands fumbled for a while, and as he was about to get it, we were stopped.

"Guys. Hallway." It was Ella. I then heard giggles in the background from Libby and Nudge.

"Yeah, we all have to walk on this floor. We don't want you spreading you're naked germs all over the floor and walls and stuff. I mean, how _gross_ would that be?" Nudge exclaimed. How can she pack so much excitement into her voice, and then so many words into _that_? It was beyond me. I pulled away from Fang's lips, looking at the three girls that stood before me.

"Ok, you're right guys. Let's go finish this in your room Fang." I said huskily, grabbing his hand in attempt to walk away.

"Oh no you don't. Come on, you've got a date to get ready for!" Nudge squealed. I could tell she was looking forward to spending the afternoon doing peoples' make-up and hair and crap. She grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Fang.

_Help_. I mouthed at him, and he just smirked. I glared back at him and let myself get dragged away.

As we walked into Nudge's room, I suddenly realised that I hadn't eaten all day. I'd spent most of my time crying or with Fang, or with Fang and crying.

"Yo guys! I need some food. I'm gonna go downstairs and grab some, want any?" I asked. They all shook their heads. "Suit yourself." I said. Walking downstairs, I bumped into Fang, literally.

"Trying to escape that easy? Don't tell me you don't want to go on this date, do you?" He said in a mocking tone.

"Calm the farm, I'm just getting a bite to eat." I replied. Fang slipped out of the room silently, and I just continued making myself some Two Minute Noodles, cutting up some cold ham, stuffing that into a sandwich or two, filling up my water bottle with some Coke, and putting all of that onto a tray I'd gotten out of the cupboard. I looked at it, and decided that it wasn't enough. I grabbed the Oreo packet off the shelf, got myself a glass of milk, and put all that along with 2 apples, a serving of left-over smoked salmon and two pieces of buttered toast onto the tray with a knife and fork. And finally, I put a chocolate bar in my mouth for good measure. I lifted the tray carefully, and walked up the stairs slowly and steadily, as not to spill anything.

When I reached Nudge's room, I had to use my hip to knock on the door. From inside the room I heard a few muffled giggles and someone walking towards the door. It opened suddenly, to reveal Libby, her mouth hanging open in shock. She recovered quickly though.

"Feeding a crowd?" She asked, a little dazed at the amount of food I had on the tray. I nodded, placing the tray down on Ella's desk, and spitting out the chocolate bar, peeling off the wrapping and stuffing my face.

"Hey, a mutant birk kid eats what a mutant bird kid eats." They all laughed. "You saw Gazzy last night, didn't you?"

"But still! How much to you have to eat?" Her eyes were wide, and full of unanswered questions.

"'Bout three or four thousand calories a day." I concluded for her.

"And yet you still stay so thin…" Her eyes looked kind of dazed, not really staring at me, but never letting me out of her sights at the same time. She suddenly snapped back into reality and bombarded me with questions. A hand was soon slapped over her mouth, and I looked to Libby's left to find Nudge there, looking so pleased with herself.

"FINALLY! I'M NOT THE ONE GETTING SLAPPED!" She cheered, jumping up and down on the spot. "God, I feel sorry for you guys! Having to listen to me do that all day… It must be torture! Is it torture? I bet it is! _That_ was torture. Libby asked me the same questions yesterday, but Ella just told her to shut up, which she did. OMG, last night was so fun! We-." She was cut off by Ella's hand slapping over her mouth. Nudge frowned.

Suddenly, Ella screamed in pain. She was jumping up and down, holding her hand, looking like she was about to burst out in tears.

"NUDGE! WHAT DID YOU DO?" I demanded, going over to Ella and putting my arm around her reassuringly and comfortingly. Nudge just smiled sheepishly. "Nudge." I said in a warning tone, sounding very like my Mom.

"I kinda, sorta, bit her hand." Nudge said, smiling a little, but knowing very well that she shouldn't be.

"What! WHY?" I screamed.

Nudge looked blankly down at her feet. "Temptation."

"Not ok, Nudge, not ok." I scolded her. Ella seemed to be almost fine now after Nudge _bit_ her hand.

"Righty! Make-up time!" Nudge squealed. Well, this oughta be good.

**A/N: I kinda like this chapter. Nudge is like me in it, the non-stop talking one who whenever someone slaps their hand over my face, I bite them. Yeah, I'm pretty harsh, but you know… wait, this isn't supposed to be long! You promised! Bad Jade! Bad! r&r**


	14. Dresses

**A/N:** **OMG, just got back from, well kinda, I'm on my laptop in the car, from visiting family friends. There's this one dude, he's a year or so older than me, and if you grew his hair, got rid of his (unnoticeable) braces, put some black contacts and change him from his talkative self, we have found ourselves our new Fang! God, that boy is HOT. Apparently he's family friends, and if he is, I'll happily spend my whole days with family friends. Too bad he goes to an all-boys boarding school in Geelong (work on you're Australian geography people!) and only comes home during the term breaks. Well, I guess that's the only time we see those family friends anyway. I would happily date him… and then, he walked in and started playing the guitar! Who doesn't think that's hot? And I think he likes me, he keeps looking at me, and as we were leaving, he was subtly following me around and he said goodbye four times. Review or PM me saying if I should try to make anything out of it or just keep it as a fantasy. Ok, moving on… just wanted to point that out. Damn it, another long A/N. Sozz **

**Disclaimer: I just went on about some hot dude. Isn't James Patterson straight? And **_**old**_**? **

Sitting with them was torture. Did I _seriously _have to sit with them for the next two hours? They wouldn't stop _talking_. I mean seriously. What did I ever do to them? Before it was ok, because I had food, but now I had finished it, and had resorted to examining my scars from Eraser attacks.

"Are we ever going to actually _get ready_?" I murmured under my breath. Three heads swivelled towards me.

"Maximum Bachelor Martinez Ride." Nudge said.

"Ohh, full names! Am I supposed to be like, scared?" I retorted.

"What do you think we have been _doing_ for the past hour and a half?" Nudge continued, ignoring my rude remark.

"Uhh, talking."

"What do you think we were talking about?" She cried.

"Stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Stuff that made me board enough to start to look at my scars."

"Well, for your information, we were talking about what they, which includes you, were gonna wear!" Nudge stated, looking agitated.

"Ok then. Well, I guess I'll be off." I said, standing up and heading for the door.

"Oh no you don't." Ella grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back.

"Ella. Let. Go. Of. Me. I. Can. Hurt. You. Probably. Even. Kill. You." I snarled, glaring at her. But instead of backing off, Libby just grabbed my other arm.

"El, Libs, let her go." Nudge said, starting to come back to my side again. "She probably _can_ kill you. Have you seen her scars? She can kill four man sized wolves at once." Ella and Libby let go of me, and I shook my arms, as to get rid of Ella and Libby's touch that felt like it was still lingering on me.

"No, I haven't seen them! Can I see your scars Max?" Libby jumped up and down, and I pulled up the leg off my jeans, revealing the cut the Erasers had given me that day on the beach when I thought Fang was going to die. "Whoa…." Libby's eyes got caught up in the scar for quite some time.

"I _told_ you they were interesting." I told Nudge, and she just held out her fist for me to bump. I laughed and bumped it, surprised at how easily she came back over to my side.

"To Max's room!" She called in a sing-song voice. Ella and Libby sounded excited, but I just sounded confused.

"Hold up! My room?"

"Yeah! We've got something to show you. Plus, you got the en-suit that me, Nudge and Angel have to use." Ella said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out. She rushed towards my door and pushed me in. Libby and Nudge ran from behind.

"Ok, so what's this you gotta show me?" I asked. This was starting to get old. Wait, let me rephrase that. This got old _a while ago_. They're just making it older. Like, mega-old. Dinosaurs old.

"Well. Since you wouldn't come shopping with us," Nudge started. But they had never asked me to go shopping! I would have said no anyway, but what about the thought guys? "So, we checked what size you were. And then we bought you a dress!"

"A _dress_?" I asked. "I am _not _wearing a dress on my date."

"But it's you're four yearversary!" Nudge whined. "Plus, it took _ages_ for me to find this dress." Ella and Libby nodded their heads in agreement. Well… if Nudge had taken time to find it, I might as well see it…

"Fine. Let's see it." Nudge squealed in excitement. She opened my closet doors and practically disappeared inside it. God, I don't have _that_ many clothes.

"Found it!" Nudge called from what seemed like far away, but was in fact just from my closet. She walked up, trailing a red dress behind her. It was… beautiful. Don't _ever_ tell anyone I said that. But it was. It was a strapless red dress with a large, but unnoticeable bow on the front. It was slightly ruffled, just like many dresses are these days. I looked at it up and down, trying to decide what to do with it. "It'd be perfect. Fang would love it." Nudge encouraged.

"No."

"At least try it on." She pleaded.

"No."

"Pleaaaasssseeeeeeeee." She gave me the Bambi eyes. God I wish she didn't.

"Fine. I'll try it on." I said, grabbing it out of her hands and storming into the bathroom. I heard giggles from outside the door, and I tried it on in silence. Even with my raptor hearing I couldn't figure out what they were saying. I slipped it over my head and walked outside, hearing gasps from everyone. "Sooooo, whadaya think?" I asked.

"You look… amazing." Said Nudge, who was stunned. "Who knew you could look like that?" I glanced at both Libby and Ella quickly, as if sending them a little message like Angel does. They nodded back at me, and we simultaneously hit her with one of my many pillows.

"Oww?" She called. "I am here you know."

"Exactly." I laughed, suddenly forgetting that I was in a dress, and was about to go on some shmancy date. I was having fun. Up until Nudge said that we should stop and start getting ready.

For the next half hour or so, I sat there, my stomach grumbling, listening to Ella and Nudge fight about what shoes I should wear.

"Look, guys, I'm gonna go get a packet of chips to share. Be back in a sec!" I called, walking out the door.

"But Fang can't see you yet! You're not ready!" Libby said, stopping me in my tracks as she suddenly appeared right in front of me. Been taking lessons from Fang, has she?

"You're acting like we're getting married." I said, laughing.

"You will."

"I know we might, but not right now. So can I go downstairs and get some chips?" I exclaimed.

"Ok, _might_? You totally will. Plus, it is kinda like you're getting married. It's your four yearversary!" Libby exclaimed and I scowled at her. She lowered her voice. "Look, Nudge and Ella don't want you leaving the room or Fang seeing you, so how about you go downstairs really quickly, grab the stuff, and I'll find Fang and stall him." She offered.

"Deal." I said, bumping her fist.

Moments later both Libby and I were upstairs in my room again, although this time I had a bowl of chips in my hand. But somehow Nudge and Ella were blind enough to not even notice we were gone.

"Wan' any?" I asked, lying back on my bed, feeling like a pig and pushing the bowl towards them.

"When did you get them?" Ella questioned, a confused look crossing her features.

"A while back." I replied.

"Oh. Well, don't eat them. Don't want you getting all full before your date." Nudge scolded.

"Calm the farm, it's only a few chips." I said, taking another heaped handful. "So you want any?" I asked and they shook their heads. "More for me!" I passed the bowl to Libby who took some gratefully.

"Max can't wear those, they'll fall of while she's flying!" Ella exclaimed.

"And you know that… because?" Nudge argued. "Plus, she won't be flying! That would ruin the dress! I told Fang to drive her there!"

"But-." Ella said, but I cut her off.

"Guys! Calm down! Just show me the two pairs of shoes you're fighting about!" I demanded. Ella and Nudge both held out there hand and gave me a shoe each. They looked almost exactly the same, they were both black, massively heeled shoes. The only difference was that one had straps.

"I like this one." I said, pointing to the one without straps.

"Ah ha!" Nudge said, straight into Ella's face. "I _told_ you!"

"But-." Ella started, but I cut her off again.

"Less arguing, more doing." I said, lying back on my bed, looking lazy as hell.

"She's got a point, you know." Libby agreed.

"Fine." Ella and Nudge said together, and both had a tone of annoyance. And so, for the next hour and a half, I sat there listening to Ella, Libby and Nudge talk about what we should wear. Nudge was so excited to do my make-up and hair, although I was dreading it.

"Ok, so this is what I'm gonna do…" Nudge started, but I zoned out. Soon I was in a chair and having my face drawn on. "Finished!" Nudge squealed, and I swivelled on my chair and looked at myself in the mirror. I had red nails, the same red as my dress. My lips were painted lightly with cherry red lip-stick. My eyes were outlined with black eyeliner, and I had a faint tint of black eye-shadow. My cheeks were pink and all of the scars on my face had been covered up as my hair fell in loose ringlets around my face.

"Whadaya think?" Ella asked, looking pleased.

"Sure…" I answered, unsure of what to think. Sure, I looked pretty, but it just wasn't_ me_. Just as I opened my mouth to speak again, I was interrupted.

"What did you _do_ to Max?" Gazzy stared at my face, disbelieving. "Who's this and what did you do with the real Max?" We all laughed and he blushed, running away from the door, a disgusted expression plastered across his boyish face.

What felt like hours later, everyone except Nudge was all dressed up, ready for their date. We all had on strapless dresses, Libby's was purple and Ella's was black with some blue. They were all ruffled, and we all had heels on. I liked Ella's dress the best, it looked like someone had wrapped some ribbon around the blue shirt and tied it onto the skirt. It looked really nice on her. We all had some circular earrings on, and both Ella and Libby had a necklace on and make-up highlighted their face. We all had a little clutchy handbag, and mine had a strap. Ella's hair had been curled into ringlets, as mine had, and Libby's naturally wavy hair was dead straight, and pulled into a tight pony-tail.

"She has no necklace!" Nudge complained, whilst Ella gasped.

"Really guys? You're freaking out over the fact that I have no necklace." I laughed.

"YES!" They all shouted together, just making me laugh more.

"Is it _that_ bad?"

"YES!" I just chuckled. They all looked as though someone had just told them it was the end of the world tomorrow.

"Well, even if you did find me a necklace, I would take it off anyway."

"Fine." Nudge said, stamping her foot. "But if Fang says you're missing something, don't come running to me."

"I'm fine." I said. Nudge bounced back quickly.

"What's the time?" She asked.

"Uhh, six thirty." I replied, glancing quickly at my alarm clock.

"Ok, so the boys will be here in half an hour." She said. "Awww, this is no fun. You guys are all dressed up and I'm just sitting here in normal clothes." I looked at Nudge, who was sitting in my beanbag looking sad, in her skinny jeans, wedges and designer top. "I wanna dress up too!" She whined.

"Then do." I told her. She sat up straight, her face bright.

"You think I should?" She asked.

"Totally." Ok, to tell you the truth, at the rate we were going, she wouldn't have enough time, but as Flock leader I have to encourage people my Flock.

"Yippie!" She jumped up and ran back to her room, returning thirty seconds later, holding a bunch of clothes. I lay back on my bed, my head falling off the end, throwing up one of my pillows and catching it when it came down. Ella got to work with Nudge, getting her into the clothes and carefully putting some make-up. I put a board expression on my face, but grinned at Libby when she looked over at me.

"What music do we got?" Libby said, walking over to my iPod and taking a quick glance. "Ooh! I love this song!" She squealed, placing my iPod back in their speakers. A familiar tune hit my ears like one of Gazzy's farts to my nose.

_I miss your soft lips  
I miss your-_

"No!" Nudge and I screamed together. I quickly covered my ear, holding back tears, as Nudge tackled my iPod, pressing pause.

"_Don't ever_ play that song around Max." Nudge told Libby firmly, who looked confused. Soon Ella caught on, and her face fell.

"What happened?" She asked quietly, her voice filled with concern.

"Today she had an 'episode'." Nudge said, using her fingers to emphasize the word episode.

"Really?" Ella asked, and a single tear dripped down my face. Nudge ran over to me, putting an arm around me to comfort me.

"No! That's why she's crying!" Nudge yelled and Ella looked speechless. More tears ran down my cheeks. Nudge lifted my chin up to look at her.

"Don't cry. You'll ruin your make-up." She said, and I smiled weakly at the fact that she was worried about my make-up more than everyone else. "Remember what Fang told you before." I nodded and fell into her chest, breathing heavily. _He loves you. He won't ever leave you._ I repeated mentally. I stood up.

"I- I think I'm ok now." I said, trying to look ok again.

"Look, I know this probably isn't the time, but what the hell is going on?" Libby said, a confused expression plastered on her face. I laughed quietly and let Nudge explained everything, including what happened this morning. Ella gasped and Libby just looked shocked.

"So, he left you… just like that?" She gapped and I nodded. "That's horrible!"

"It's fine. Let's finish getting Nudge ready." I said, trying to leave the topic. Even thinking about it hurt.

"Yay!" Nudge squealed, and soon all attention had left me and was on Nudge.

"You look like Ke$ha." I told her, remembering the artist of the 'song that shall not be named'. But it was true. She had a silver and blue star of eyeliner and eye shadow surrounding one eye and blue lipstick on. Her hair was all ruffled and scruffy with a blue streak. She was wearing a silver top that hung off one shoulder and dark blue denim shorts. She was wearing massive six inch heels and bangles up her arms that highlighted her black nail polish. Around her neck were many dog tags, with short phrases like 'Laugh out Loud' and 'Try New Things'. Massive hoops feel of her ears and a pair of silver sunglasses sat on her head. Nudge strutted around the room, putting on her best model walk and twirled.

I laughed as she pushed her sunglasses down her nose and strutted around, looking like a super model. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Ella, Libby and Nudge squealed and I just rolled my eyes at them. The ran as fast as their massive heels could carry them down the stairs. Here goes nothing.

**A/N: Haha, bet you wanted the date this chappie. Sorry! It will be next chapter. And sorry it's twice as long as usual. I kept trying to finish it off and then realising that I wanted to put more in! My bad! Haha, almost 3,000 words! RECORD! R&R for quicker updates and me reading your stories!**

**Here are the links to the outfits the girls were wearing. I started doing it to help me, but I got **_**really**_** into it:**

**Nudge: http:/www (dot) polyvore (dot) com/cgi/set?id=26848595**

**Ella:** ** http:/www (dot) polyvore (dot) com/cgi/set?id=26848720**

**Libby: http:/www (dot)polyvore (dot) com/cgi/set?id=26848817**

**Max: http:/www (dot) polyvore (dot) com/maxs_outfit/set?id=26850005**

**God, I promised myself that I wouldn't make any OC have a big part in the story… too late! But I don't mind Libby that much, I think she's kinda cool. Like, me with an obsession for fashion. **


	15. Cheated

**A/N: WTH? Chapter 15? Since when? Wow, time goes fast… Thanx to FlowerChild22 (I **_**think**_** that's her name) for being the first to read last chapter. We were kinda talking on FB when I put it up… soo… And I know, I've had some complaints of too much fluff, but I didn't mean to make it fluff, I been getting people wanting **_**more**_** so I gave more! Stop with the COMPLAINTS people! Constructive criticism isn't flaming. Do you **_**see**_** my English teacher walking around telling people to flame each other? NO. **

**Disclaimer: How old do you think I am? **

Ella, Nudge and Libby ran down the stairs and into the living room, me following slowly behind. It was Zach and Tyler.

"Hi Zach!" Ella squealed.

"Hey…. uh… Ella." He replied, obviously forgetting Ella's name for a moment. Behind Zach, Tyler walked into the room, closing the door behind him. So Fang isn't here yet. Where the hell did he go anyways?

"Sup Libs."

"Hey…" She said dreamily at Tyler, getting lost in his eyes. He kinda reminded me of Dylan, tall blonde, surfer guy who is supposedly hot. He probably had a four pack or something under his tight shirt. Zach was more of an Iggy type, except he could see. Tall, scruffy strawberry blonde. And Ella thought of him as the hottest boy in Arizona. Interesting….

"You're right Max." Angel said, literally reading my mind as she walked into the room holding a bowl of popcorn, settling into the sofa to watch a movie. Zach and Tyler's head snapped up to look between me and Angel. Angel realised her mistake. "About the popcorn. It's much better than the stuff we used to get."

"Yeah, I told you." I said, trying to carry on the conversation.

"I know right? It's so much better… what did we used to get? What stuff? That stuff was cra-." My hand was soon slapped across Nudge's mouth, telling her to settle.

"We get it, Krys." I said, using her fake name to add to the act.

"Hey." Zach said flirtily, pushing Ella off him and walking up to Nudge and I. "You Krys? And Max?" He asked.

"Krystal, but yeah, call me Krys." Nudge said.

"Yeah… I have a boyfriend." I said, stepping towards the kitchen door, trying to get away from him

"Wanna go out tonight?" He asked Nudge huskily, dipping in to kiss her neck. Player. Hello, Ella's still in the room! But Nudge seemed to forget that.

"Sure. Love to." Nudge giggled, and Zach grabbed her hand and lead Nudge outside to his car. I saw him open the door and jump in the back with her, kissing her as he did. How the hell could Nudge like that guy? Tyler seemed to be more of a gentleman.

"Shall we?" He asked, holding out his arm. Libby nodded and took it gratefully, smiling. Ella's face dropped and she sat down on the sofa, tears leaking from her eyes.

"How could she, that bitc-." I cut her off.

"This isn't Nudge's fault." I said, sitting down next to her and putting my arm around her.

"Really? And Fang leaving you isn't his fault, that's why you break down whenever you hear that song?" Ella snapped.

"Look, Ella, Zach's obviously a player, so just forget about him. Nudge will soon. He isn't the one for you." I comforted. Just as I finished, Fang walked through the front door.

"Hey." He said huskily.

"Hi." I replied, looking at him, putting my best flirty face on. I stood up and walked over to him, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him into a hug. I looked up at him and smiled.

"You look, beautiful…" He stammered, and I just smiled at him. "I can't believe they forced you into a dress." I giggled. "You ready to go?"

"Yep." I said.

"Well then…" He said, leaning down to kiss me. Before our lips had even touched Iggy's voice had pulled us apart.

"Hey, why is Ella still here?" He said.

"How the hell did you know?" Fang asked. "Wait, why _is_ Ella still here?"

"Instinct." Iggy said, looking smug.

"Right…" I said.

"Hello? Still in the room! Or are you just going to walk away with my date like Nudge did?" She said quietly, sobbing.

"What?" Iggy looked taken aback.

"Yeah, he walked in and started talking to her, and then took her out, leaving me here!" Ella cried.

"That's not cool, man. That dude's gonna pay." Iggy clenched his fist. Iggy suddenly spread a mischievous expression across his face. "Hey, wanna come out with me? We could go see a movie or something." Angel's face scrunched up in disgust.

"I can tell you that she's not gonna want to do that!" She exclaimed, reading his mind.

Ella ignored what she said. "See a movie? But you're _blind_." I chuckled a little, my arms still wrapped around Fang's torso.

"You're point?"

"Just pointing it out." She laughed, grabbing Iggy's hand and lacing their fingers together. I laughed when they walked out the door, already kissing.

"Awww, love at first sight. Kinda…." I laughed.

"Come on, let's go." Fang said, looking down at me. I nodded and grabbed his hand, leading us to his car.

"Wait! So you're just gonna leave me and Gazzy by ourselves? Dr M's out at some meeting thing!" Angel called after us.

"Yeah!" I laughed. "Gazzy's twelve! He can look after you!" I looked back at her, smiling. Sitting in the front seat of the car Fang and I share, I looked at him.

"Four years…" He muttered.

"Yeah, it seems like yesterday when I was running away from you every time you kissed me." I laughed.

"Good thing you don't do that now."

I laughed. "Yeah, then I wouldn't live with you or the rest of the Flock. I would be a loner living in some cave." Fang chuckled a little and opened the door to the car, letting me in. "Thanks." I muttered.

Fang walked around to the other side of the car and let himself in. Starting the car and driving down the short driveway, I was too curious. I _had_ to know where we were going.

"Fang." I whined. God I wished I would stop doing that these days. "Where are we going?" I asked, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Wait and see." He replied calmly.

"But Fang… please?"

"No. Wait and see. You'll love it."

"Fine." I huffed. God, I hated him sometimes. But all I had to do was look at him again and all the hatred was gone and replaced with love. As we drove off into the distance I couldn't help wonder what would have happened if we didn't have wings.

**A/N: Ha, you all wanted the date didn't you! I know, I'm mean. I hope I can get another chapter up before Thursday, I'm going on a family holiday for a week, and so won't be able to post until the Friday after I get back. Plus, school is starting soon, DAMN IT SCHOOL. Not that I don't like school… but it's complicated. RnR!**


	16. Wine

**A/N:** **Ok, chapter 16. Thanx KimmyLovesYou707 for reviewing in the first 11 minutes of it being up! WOW! Seriously, I updated, went downstairs, said hello to my uncle, begged my dad for his chocolate block and came upstairs to find my first review! Thanx to **_**all**_** my reviewers! Going on a holiday tomorrow, so I won't be able to update for over a week, but that OK, right? It's a 12 hour driving trip, but then we GET TO A SURF BEACH. I repeat: SURF BEACH. Check list: Fang** Check **Max **Check **My Favourite Maximum Ride Quotes **Check **First 8 Chapters of Angel in book form **Check **Fang Audio Book **Check **Notebook to write the next chapter in **Check **My 3 favourite hand-drawn drawings of Fang looking mega-hot** Check **Drawing pad in case I wanna draw more **Check **Song-writing book **Check **Wishing I had my laptop with me **Check **Entire Chocolate Stash **Check** Bikini **Check Check **Surf Board **Check. **Ok, all good to go.**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN MAXIMUM RIDE! (God, you think they woulda realised by now…)**

If we didn't have wings, I wouldn't have met Fang. I would probably be living with Mom and Ella, watching Ella get cheated on by Zach, and wanting to know where the love of my life was. I would have had a good education, I would know stuff that's unimportant to my living, but I would know it all the same. I wouldn't have scars running along my body from fights and tests, I wouldn't be afraid to sit in a doctor's office, but most of all, I wouldn't have Fang.

If I didn't have wings, I wouldn't have Fang.

Realising that made me understand how _lucky_ I am to have wings, even if it did mean hundreds and hundreds of tests, feeling pain all day long and being kept in cages. Even though all that was _horrible_, knowing and loving Fang makes up for it. If I didn't have wings, I wouldn't have Fang.

"If I didn't have wings, I wouldn't have Fang." I breathed.

"What?" He asked, concerned. I hadn't meant to say it out loud, but I wasn't hiding anything.

"If I didn't have wings, I wouldn't have you." I told him, and I watched his facial reaction. His face dropped, then brightened, and then returned to its usual blank mask.

"If we didn't have wings, I wouldn't know any of you, except Ella." I said, continuing my thoughts out loud. "I would have been to school, I would have lived like a normal human being, I wouldn't have painful memories, I would only know Jeb as my father, Iggy and Ella wouldn't be in love, because his parents live in DC, don't they? I wonder where you'd be. Gazzy and Angel would still have each other, being blood siblings and all, but wouldn't have me or you or Nudge or Igs. We'd all be alone. Nudge would either be living with bikies or have been adopted. Angel and Gazzy would have a mom and dad, just like they've always dreamed of. Iggy would have over protective parents, but would be about to _see_. I would live here, and you… I don't know where you'd be. You might have been adopted, or fostered, or living with your mom who's probably in her twenties right now. If we didn't have wings-." Fang cut me off at the mention of his mother.

"Let it go." He said, and I sunk down into my chair, embarrassed by my Nudge moment. That's probably the Nudgiest moment I've ever had.

"Sorry." I said, staring out of the car window and into the distance. We sat in silence for a while, and I tried to forget about not having wings. "Where _are _we going?" I asked again, really wanting to know.

"Wait."

"But-."

"Max. Wait." Uhg, back to one word answers are we? God…

We sat in the car for quite some time, and eventually started talking again. I completely forgot about my whole 'I we didn't have wings' Nudge moment, and the fact that I had no idea where we were going, and just talked to Fang. We talked about the wackiest things, like what flavour of ice-cream is the best, and the pros and cons of owning the world. It was easy once I just forgot that I was angry with him. Time just flew by, and before I knew it, it was eight o'clock, and it had been an hour.

Just as I was about to ask where we were going, Fang pulled into a gas station and got out of the car.

"What? This is the most romantic place you could find?" I asked him, laughing. He blushed lightly, leaving a slight pink tinge on his cheeks.

"No." He replied.

"So why are we here?" I asked.

"Come on." He said, reaching for my hand and pulling me out of the car. He walked me into the service station. "Thank Angel later." He whispered in my ear as we walked up to the counter.

"How may I help you?" A lady asked, her eyes drooping.

"Hello. I'm Nick Ride." Said Fang.

"Ah yes, I'll just be a second." She said, disappearing though a door behind the counter.

"Fang, what's going on?" I asked softly.

"Wait and see."

"Stop saying that!" I whined.

"It's true."

"Fine." I huffed, but instead of turning my back and crossing my arms, I just clung onto Fang's arm.

The lady re-appeared only a moment later, clutching a basket. "Here you go." She said, handing the basket to Fang, and then leaving to poor herself another cup of coffee.

"Let's go." Said Fang, leading me out of the door. But instead of leading me towards the car, he lead me away from it and into the bushes. "Come on." He said, pushing me in. I stepped onto the dirt and my heels sunk into the mud.

"My shoes are stuck in the mud!" I complained.

"I'll carry you." He said, lifting me off my feet and holding me bridal style. "More romantic this way." He chuckled at my reaction to the mud, and then set off walking, somehow managing to carry both me and the basket at the same time. Five minutes into walking, we stopped, and Fang put me down. Silently taking my hand and leading me away, I looked around in wonder. It was beautiful, full of trees and the trickle of a stream and the call of crickets filled the dark air. I closed my eyes and let myself soak it all in. The beauty, the calmness, the peacefulness. "We're here." Fang said, and I looked at him. He was standing at the top of a picnic rug, which was lit up with fairy lights which were hanging from the trees.

"Wow." I breathed.

"Iggy helped me do it."

"But still." I looked around in wonder, and then back at Fang. "I never thought of you as the romantic type." I laughed.

"I have my moments." He said, making me laugh more.

I sat on the rug and pulled him down with me. We were on the edge of the stream, in a small clearing. The lights were all silver, like Christmas lights, and were hung from branches.

"Come on. Let's eat. I'm starved." I said, looking in Fang's eyes. He nodded and looked back, making me melt inside. Those eyes… were… amazing… mesmerizing… beautiful. I smiled and Fang pulled the picnic basket towards him. He pulled out two plates and two wine glasses, and then a bottle of wine.

"Really Fang? Wine?" I asked. He nodded sheepishly and poured me a small glass. I smile gratefully and took a little sip. I gagged.

"No more wine?" He asked.

"Yeah." I asked, my voice cracked from the horrible tasting drink. Let's just say that wine isn't my thing.

"How 'bout some Coke?" He asked, and I nodded gratefully, taking a big gulp from my can that he had just pulled out of the basked. He grabbed himself a can and held it up.

"To us." He said, and I laughed at his attempt to be all romantic.

"To us." I laughed, touching my can with his, taking a big gulp.

**A/N: I know, I know, I haven't finished that date. I know it's a cliffy. Sorry about the little fluffy bit at the end, but I thought it was kinda funny, watching Fang try and make a toast. Haha, they made the toast with Coke. Anyway… for at least another week, you're gonna have to wait! Sorry! Gotta go pack. RnR. **


	17. Mine

**A/N: OMG, so sorry it's been more than a week. More like 2 weeks! I kept thinking "Yeah, I should probably update soon" but I kept loosing heart. I gave myself a mental pep talk, and here I am, better than ever (I hope). My holiday was AWESOME, thanx people who asked… all the holiday uoosh: Staying in the most amazing house ever, getting caught in a rip, almost drowning, being saved by my cousin, and the life guard, being the amazing life saver that he is (note sarcasm), watched me for 20 minutes and told me off whilst I was gagging and having a panic attack. I ended up adding that beach to the 'beaches to never return to under any circumstances' list. Yeah. Isn't it sad that I have a list? Then almost drowning again, being taught to surf by pro surfers, and going back to two of the four beaches on 'the list' to surf. I got a rash on my face around my eyes, got a different rash on the inside of my arms, had my cousin like me in a non-cousin way, and got hit in the head with a surf board. Twice. My perfect family holiday. Yay. Hey, it was worth it. Especially considering I watched most of season one of Glee on the way back home! Whoop whoop! Love Glee… Oh, and my other reason for not updating is that I've been really foucused on my blog. It's not a real blog, just something to keep up my imagination. You can read it if you want: http(the two dots)/jordan-blackeyedpeas(dot)blogspot(dot)com. Or you can read my real blog, which is on my profile :) Moving on, here is my chappie!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or many of the other (hot *cough* Fang *cough*) characters that go with it. **

"This place looks… amazing…" I said dreamily, digging into another serving of the potato salad Iggy had made.

"Yeah, I know. You've told me like, once, twice? Thirty four times?"

"Sorry." I said, blushing. "You said Iggy helped? When?"

"When you got tackled and imprisoned by Nudge, Ella and Libby." Fang chuckled lightly and then went back to his third steak he'd managed to warm up. How, you ask? I have absolutely no idea. Maybe a new power? Wouldn't be surprised, we are mutant bird kids after all.

"But didn't it like, take an hour for you to drive here? You were only gone two hours."

"Max. We have _wings_. We can_ fly_." He emphasized. "Flying is quicker than driving."

"But wasn't all this stuff heavy? Look, there's so freaking much!"

"Bought some battery powered lights from some hard-wear store next town over. Got weird looks, Iggy and me, but it was all worth it." He said, looking away from his home-cooked meal and into the distance.

"So, like, how long did it all take?" I asked, placing my knife and fork back on the plate and staring at his flawless face.

"A while. Maybe an hour? Hour and a half tops." He said, his mouth full.

"It's so amazing here. Where did you find this place?" I looked at the lights, the stream, the valley, the clearing. It was beautiful.

"Stop with the questions." Fang said, his mouth twitching into a smile every now and again. I raised my eye-brows at him, shaking my head ever so slightly as if to ask 'Are you gonna answer?' Fang shoved another piece of steak into his mouth, closely followed by a singular piece of lettuce. His full lips closed around it, chewing slowly, as if thinking. As he swallowed, his breath hitched and caught on something. He started coughing. I patted him on the back, but it just got worse. _Crap! He's choking!_ My mind screamed. I slapped him on the back, over and over again, trying to get that food out of his air-pipe thing. Ok, so I only know that basics of the human body, but come on, it's kinda hard for me. I'm not all that human.

Fang coughed again, and again, getting the occasional wheeze of air into his system. I started to panic. Would Fang die? Would I grow old and die alone? He stopped coughing, and I really started to panic. Hard.

"Fang!" I called into his face, trying to pry open his closed and concentrated eyes with my words. "Fang! Are you there?" I took hold of his shoulders and shook him, as if trying to wake him up from a horrible, horrible dream. _My_ horrible, horrible dream. This can't be happening. No! This can't!

A few long seconds later, I was in tears, curled up on his lap, unknown to what to do next.

"Fang, please." I sobbed half-heartedly. Suddenly, he coughed again, and then gasped for air. As he panted I picked myself up off his lap and flung my arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder. "Fang. Fang. Fang." That was all I could manage to get out. Ok, I know I'm being a wimp and all, I've been in too many life or death situations to count, and now I'm sobbing into someone's shoulder because I thought they were going to die all because of a piece of steak.

Fang regained his breath and wrapped his arms around my waist, embracing me warmly. "It's ok. I'm fine." He soothed, rubbing my back between my wings as he knew I liked. I hick-uped to a stop.

"S-sorry. I thought you were gonna d-die." I stuttered. "I don't wanna l-lose you yet. Not now. Not ever." I said, pulling back and staring into his eyes, my arms still firmly around his neck. I had just realised that I was sitting on top of him, literally. I was on knees, looking up at him. I clambered back off him and onto where I had been sitting previously. After a few minutes of silence, thinking over what had just happened, Fang decided to break it.

"You want any more food?" He asked, holding out the basket.

"Nah, just lost my appetite." I smiled weakly at him and continued to look at the stream, its water trickling down the rocks as if there wasn't a care in the world. Which of course there was, but I was doing my best to just forget about that.

"Fine." He said, shrugging, placing our left cleaned plates in the basket again and setting it aside. Fang joined me, staring at the stream as well. We sat in silence, just thinking. Fang subtly put an arm around my shoulder and I rested my head in the crook of his neck. It probably looked very hallmarky, but it was real, not just a fake photograph.

We sat there in more silence. Thinking. I thought about life, and what lucky people we are to be alive. The School almost killed us. I thought about life, and how much it changed on Wednesday. It was the first of 'the talks', Ella being asked out. And then yesterday, Thursday, I had the dream, and then Dylan and Jeb showed up. And then this morning, I broke down, and how here we are. Having one of the best nights of our lives. My eyes widened slightly as I remembered something that I had meant to ask Fang this morning.

"Hey?" I said, removing my head from and looking up at him.

"What?" He said, still staring into space, his eyes unfocused.

"Where did you go last night? You were gone a few hours. I meant to ask you this morning but I forgot." I said. His eyes seemed to focus, but he tried to stay relaxed, as if he were hiding something. "Fang? Are you keeping a secret from me?"

"Uhh."

"Fang. Tell me. You can tell me anything." I begged.

"Tell you later." He said, looking down at me and giving me a quick peck on the lips. "Promise."

"Fine." I huffed playfully, crossing my arms and leaning my back against his shoulder. I stayed like that for a good five minutes back couldn't help inching back towards him.

"C'mon, let's go." Fang said, breaking the silence. He stood up, dusted his pants off and held out his hand to help me up. I took it, a confused expression plastered across my face.

"Where are we going? You didn't tell me there was more!"

"Well, what kind of surprise would that be?" He asked, quickly flipping me into his arms, so he was carrying me bridal style.

"What about all the stuff? You can't just leave it here." Fang walked me though the dark woods, but our raptor vision enabled us to see.

"Me and Ig'l get it later." He said, shrugging loosely. I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked up at him, smiling. Lots of girls wanted him. Lots and LOTS of girls. But no, he chose me. And he's all mine, and only mine.

**A/N: Sorry, it's not as long as I would like it to be **** Drama in the next chapter. I really wanted to put it in this chapter, but I wanted a happy ending. Next chapter's likely to be a cliffy! SOZ! **


	18. Dread

**A/N: Thanx readers! This is gonna be a short A/N, but shout out to be BFF Izzy who was the first one of my close friends to find out about FanFiction. She hasn't even read **_**any **_**Maximum Ride books and she sat there for 4 hours reading this fic! You rock Iz! There's even a little action in here for all you awesome readers.**

**Disclaimer: Do you **_**see**_** this in a bookstore?**

Minutes later we were at our car, and Fang literally placed me into it. Jogging around to the other side and plopped himself in the driver's seat, he started the engine and pulled out of the now closed gas station. I rested my head against the glass, watching the world go by. I yawned, suddenly tired. My eyes started drifting closed and soon my world went black.

LINE BREAK

Fang realised about a minute into driving that Max had fallen asleep against the glass of the window. Her face was so peaceful, her muscles unclenched. Her full lips were set to a slight smile and every so once in a while they twitched into a small grin. Strands of dark, sun-kissed hair were covering her face, and as the car drove along, every strand moved as her body moved, turning with the car. Max looked so peaceful, so careless, so relaxed. Years ago when they were on the run, Max was never peaceful, never careless, never relaxed. There was too much danger around back then. But ever since they had come to live with Dr M three months ago, in August, she had learnt to relax. They all had. Max had always had a tough time staying relaxed, being the leader and in charge of everyone.

Fang set his focus back onto the road, driving Max to their next destination. He hoped she liked it. It would never be something Max would be into really, but that didn't change it. But he _did _wish she would forget about where he went the night before. Max didn't need to know, but he knew that she would always be able to get him to tell her, which he didn't want. Max finding out too soon would ruin her.

As the car drove down the dark road, hidden in the shadows, five people were watching them. Surveying them. Taking notes, talking into cell phones.

"But boss, what are they doing out here? According to other sources, they live at least an hour's drive away." One of the men asked into his phone.

"Follow them. Don't let them out of your sight." A cracked voice said out of the phone.

"On it." The male-model looking man flipped the phone shut and jumped into the black Hummer that had been provided for then. Tonight was gonna be fun.

LINE BREAK

I woke up later feeling half tired, half refreshed, a very normal feeling me to get when I wake up. I glanced at the clock on the screen. 21:39. We had been driving for an hour.

"We almost there?" I whined, looking at Fang. He jumped, not realising I was awake again.

"Yeah." He said, recovering. "Few more minutes."

"Ok." I said, staring at him. His long, onyx hair covered on of his midnight blue eyes perfectly, his perfect olive skin flawless. All except a few scars for fights with Erasers and 'tests' from the School. His dark-wash jeans fitted perfectly with his leather jacket. It was then that I noticed a deep scar along his arm that I hadn't noticed before.

"Where'd you get the scar on your arm?" I asked, giving him a questioning look.

"Oh, that." He said, keeping his eyes focused on the road.

My eyes widened. "Did Erasers come and attack you when you were out setting this up?"

"No, no. Course not. Everyone knows that Erasers don't exist anymore."

"Fang, who'd you get in a fight with?" He nodded tightly, not giving me answer. "But _who_."

"Look, not now."

"_Fang_."

"Max, not now." He swerved on the road. "What the hell?" He looked down at the steering wheel in confusion. I turned around in my seat and saw what I had dreaded to see; a black Hummer with 5 men that looked like models. But anyone who knew me knew that these were no ordinary models. They were much, much worse than that. They were fierce and bloody-thirsty. They were Erasers; half man, half wolf, all terror.

"Erasers." I said to Fang, already in fighting mode. I ripped of my black, un-practical heels and grabbed my sneakers from the ground on the back seat, shoving them onto my feet. "Let's go."

"Since when do you keep those in the car?" He asked quickly, nodding his head at my feet.

"Since Dylan and Jeb showed up yesterday."

"Oh." He said shortly. "What now?"

"Uhh, I say we ditch the car and go up and away." I said, quickly pondering over what the best way to escape was.

"Max, can't. You're in a strapless dress with no slits for your wings."

"Damn it!" I cried, hitting the car. Fang was now driving as fast as he could, trying to get away from the Erasers, breaking the speed limit by almost a hundred miles an hour. I kicked the ground in frustration, wondering what the hell to do.

"Max, they're catching up. We're gonna have to get out and fight." He said.

"Ok, on three, you're gonna stop, real quick. It's gonna stuff 'em up, so I'm gonna jump out and start fighting. Then you jump out, leave our stuff, and try and make sure that they stay off our car, ok? We gotta at least _try_ and get home."

"Got it."

"Ok. One, two, three!" I called. The car screeched to a stop and I flew forward, thankfully wearing a seat belt. I pushed the airbag that had popped up out of the way and opened the car door into on Eraser. His breath shortened, but he stayed on his feet. He threw a punch aimed at my face, but just hit air. I attempted to trip him up, but failed.

"Maxie, come on. You can do better than that." He laughed. I scowled at him, already angry, and snapped a roundhouse kick that sent him flying. He lay on the middle of the road, but had already started to pick himself up. I heard Fang yell something out as he took on his own two Erasers. I sprinted over to the Eraser I had pummelled a kicked his head, knocking him out. One down, two to go. I started turning around when a hard fist connected with my head, sending me to the ground. I scrambled up off the ground and sent another roundhouse kick at his gut. He doubled over and I took this opportunity to kick his butt. Literally. He stumbled over, losing his balance and cracking his head on the side walk. Is it just me or were these Erasers easier to take out that the old ones.

But the other Eraser, the only one of mine left, wouldn't give up that easy. He sent a shot at my stomach, knocking all air out of me. I stumbled back slightly but stood my ground. The Eraser took no mercy on me and threw a punch at my chest, and I heard the sickening crack. Oh great, another broken rib. Like I've never had enough of these to last a lifetime and a half.

The next ten minutes was a blur of punches, kicks, breaking bones and yelps of pain. Fang and I had finally taken down four of the five Erasers, leaving the one I was taking on left. My mouth tasted of coppery blood and every time I sucked in a breath, I winced in pain.

"Maxie, Maxie, Maxie." The Eraser said, chuckling to himself. "You know you'll never win this." He threw a punch at my face, releasing a new burst of blood into my mouth. Fang quickly sent a crotch blow at the Eraser and ran back to the car. The Eraser started to get back up, but I knocked him down again, protecting myself against relatively weak blows every now and again.

Fang reappeared moments later, carrying our stuff in his arms.

"Called the police. Told 'em who we were. They're gonna be here in bit. Bring our car home, but we need to take our stuff. Now we go up and away."

"What about my dress?" I kicked the remaining Eraser and jogged over to Fang, taking half his load.

"Uhh…" Fang looked unsure of what to do. Great, some help you are.

"Fine. Take these back." I said, shoving my pile of stuff back into his hands and motioned for him to go. He ran and jumped into the sky, gaining altitude fast. I took a running start after him. _Well, here goes,_ I thought to myself. I jumped into the air, unfurling my wings and ripping my dress. I flew to catch up with Fang, but was stopped when I felt my dress fall down a bit. And a bit. And a bit more. And a lot. And a lot more.

I grabbed my dress and pulled it up so it wasn't falling down anymore. I spat out more blood and darted forward to catch up with Fang, holding my dress at my underarms, as to make sure it wouldn't fall down.

"Hey." I said, looking at him. His onyx wings shined darkly in the starry sky and as he looked over at me, I saw his lips twitch and turn into a grin.

"I see that ripping your dress wasn't the smartest idea you've had all day."

"Oh, shut up." I said, hitting my wing against his playfully. We flew for about fifteen minutes before arriving back at our house. I held my dress up high as we landed gracefully and silently on the front grass. It was then I noticed a searing pain in my nose, eye and left arm. Great, probably broke 'em all. Not that you can break and eye…

Fang knocked hard on the door, keeping an eye on me. Moments later, Ella answered the door with one of Iggy's arm draped around her waist.

"Oh my God." She said. "What ha-."

"Really Max? Erasers?" Angel's surprised face appeared around Iggy, her eyes wide. Iggy's sightless eyes widened in horror and Ella looked terrified. None of them had seemed to notice that my dress was falling down and I needed to come inside.

"Guys. I just need to go inside and change, ok?" I motioned to my ripped dress.

"But Max, I'm not really sure-." Ella said, but I cut her off, stalking inside, Fang close behind. I stopped when I reached the kitchen, my mind racing. Of course, why didn't I think of this before? This is _so _ridiculous!

But all I could manage to stutter out was: "What are _you_ doing here?" I demanded. My mother was sitting at the table, speaking deeply with Jeb whilst Dylan played around with some leftover salmon from last night with his fork. I should have known. _Jeb and Dylan._

**A/N: Sorry, I feel as if I have been neglecting you, and school hasn't even started yet! This is an extra-long chapter, and I'm sorry it's a cliffy. Have no idea what to do with this, but RnR anyways!**


	19. Shock

**A/N: OMG, I'm going to kill my parents… I am now banned from using my laptop upstairs, and considering the fact that fanfiction is a secret from my family… it's getting harder and harder to write. **_**Plus, **_**school started, and you know… it's **_**school**_**. Sorry again. I promise to try harder. You're making me feel so **_**bad. **_

**Disclaimer: Me owns nutin. Cept Libby. Her mine. **

Mom, Jeb and Dylan all looked up from what they were doing. Mom gasped as she took in my various cuts, bruises, pained expression and black eye. My left arm was dangling oddly at my side, and my right arm was holding up my dress to keep it from falling down. My chest felt like an elephant was sitting on it, and my arm made me want to scream. I guess I lost my tough tolerance for pain pretty quick.

"Max… What happened?" Dylan asked, his eyes wide.

"Erasers happened." I said bluntly.

"How?" Mom looked shocked, as anyone would be, I guess.

"I don't know. Why don't we ask your love buddy, Jeb?" I leant forward and came face to face with the man I once longed to be my father. "He seems to be good at this sort of stuff." I spat.

Jeb looked offended, but I was so close to him that I could see the fear of being discovered in his deep blue, lying eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He spat back at me. I pulled back as he stood up.

"Really?" I asked. Fang appeared in the room behind me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, his long fingers holding my dress up in the back.

"Yes, really." Jeb stated.

"Liar!" I lunged forward, ready to tear him apart. I had already tackled him to ground, giving it all I had, which wasn't much considering my broken ribs, wrist and dress that was falling apart. Fang leapt forward and pulled me back by the shoulders, whilst I was literally snapping and snarling like a dog at him.

"Max. Calm down." Fang whispered breathlessly into my ear. I turned around to face him.

"Like you would do anything different." I snapped back at him. "Of course he gave our position away to the School! Who else would it be?"

"Max. It's fine. Go upstairs." Fang grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into tight hug, wrapping his arms around my waist. I just stood there, holding my dress tight in my balled fist, dumbstruck.

"Get off me!" I snarled, suddenly feeling irritated and itching to get out of there. I pushed Fang off me with my hurt hand, screaming a little in pain and swearing under my breath.

"Max? What's wrong?" Mom looked at me with concern crossing her beautiful face.

I didn't look at her. "Dumb wrist." I said, shaking my head a little and starting up the stairs.

"Maximum Ride!" Mom called. "What bones did you break?" God, she knew me so well.

"Nothing Mom!" I called back at her. "Just a couple of ribs and my wrist." I added quietly.

I heard Fang translating what I had said for the non-mutant-with-amazing-bird-hearing folk. I stormed up the stairs, ready to put my wrist in a quick bandage, have a long, stress relieving shower and then fall hopelessly onto my bed, half asleep. Too bad Fang interrupted me.

"You ok?" Fang asked, opening the bathroom door slightly, just enough for him to push in.

"'Course. I'm fine." I answered, tightly wrapping the bandage I had found in the extensive first aid kit.

"You sure. You seem pretty uptight." Fang walked towards me, and I saw him looking at me in the mirror, his face questioning.

"I am _not_ uptight." I snapped waving my arms around in the air. Fang grabbed my bandaged wrist and I winced in pain. He stepped closer to me, still holding my arms in the air.

"Really?" He smirked, stepping closer again, and so I stepped back.

"Really." I snapped back.

"Are you _sure_?"

"Of course I'm sure! Now let go of me!" I yelled as I felt my dress starting to slip downward. Fang smirked again, and so I glared back at him. "Fang, my dress is starting to fall down." I said warily.

"I know." He said, pushing me lightly into the bathroom wall. I closed my eyes, but could still feel his gaze locked on me, staring at me intensely. My dress slipped more, and I could feel a slight breeze around my middle. I opened one eye, glanced at Fang and then looked down at my dress. It was around my waist. I gasped slightly, my eyes widening.

"Fang." I said, pleading shining out of my eyes. Fang may be my soul-mate, but that doesn't mean I'm fine with my dress falling down and revealing my bra. Actually, it was a little awkward.

"It's fine. I don't care." He breathed, stepping forward to kiss me. He leant in, and as soon as that spark between our lips appeared, I forgot all about my broken bones and the expensive dress around my waist. My anger was forgotten and soon replaced with lust. Fang released my wrists and I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him close. My lips crashed harder on his, and his strong arms wrapped around my waist. Soon me dress was around my ankles, but I was in too much of a dream to notice and/or care in any way, shape or form.

My arms were still wrapped around Fang's neck when I pulled away, and I looked at him deeply. Is it just me, or am I looking at him deeply a lot lately? Fang continued kissing me; down my neck, on my collar bone, down my chest. My non-numb fingers were laced through his jet-black hair, intertwining them. My naked back pressed against the cold tile wall, but I could feel Fang's hands around my lower back. I looked at him, still panting slightly, and could feel Fang's hands moving lower. And lower. And lower.

"Fang." I breathed. "No." He pulled away and gave me a questioning look. "I have at least 3 broken bones. Not yet."

He sighed and leant down to pull my dress up and around me, and I looked at him gratefully. Picking me up bridal style, Fang opened the door swiftly and led us out and into my room, where I found Nudge and Zach curled up on my chair together, doing God knows what. Libby and Tyler were in the corner kissing occasionally and holding hands, talking quietly together. But what shocked me to the most was Ella and Iggy lying on my bed, full on making out.

I gave a little cough, and _most_ heads turned to me, shock plastering their faces. Ok, so I'll give them a little grief; Zach, Tyler and Libby had never seen me after a fight with an Eraser, and Nudge looked scared.

"Well." I said at last, still a little shocked to find everyone on my room like that.

"Uhh…" Nudge stuttered, and let me tell you, Nudge doesn't stutter.

"We were just going." Zach grabbed her hand, a little forcefully from what I saw, and pulled her out of the room, giggling. Tyler nodded silently and _gently_ pulled Libby to her feet. Ella and Iggy didn't even notice I was there.

Ella pulled back from Iggy and searched his blind eyes. "Ig…" She looked at him dreamily. I coughed a little again, and they both looked at me, shock covering their faces. Well, Iggy didn't look at me, he just stared at Fang's shoulder.

"Out." I said, a little too roughly, but they knew I meant business. What the hell had three couples been doing in _my _room whilst I was on my date? Actually, don't answer that. I don't want to know.

Iggy shrugged and picked Ella up, wrapping her legs around his waist, and started kissing her again.

After the left, Fang set me down on my bed. "Oh they are _so _dead." I said, standing up, ready to pummel the pulp out of Iggy. He's old enough to be responsible… kinda. Hey, he's eighteen, he should know better.

"Don't Max. You're hurt. Rest."

I looked at Fang. "Are you stupid or something? Did those Erasers wack the common sense out of your brain? Hello! What the hell do you think they were doing in here?" I screamed.

"Don't Max." He repeated, but I was already out the door.

Well. This oughta be interesting.

**A/N: I know, I know, it's not long. Don't kill me! I'm still working on getting back into routine. I'm still tryna figure out my life! I can't promise I'll update soon, but I'll try as hard as I can, ok? **


	20. Shouts

**A/N: OMG, Chapter **_**20**_**? That's a bit much. A lot much really. Oh, and sorry for the confusion about the dress. Some people thought Max left her dress in the bathroom, but when Fang picked her up, she put it on. There. We all happy now? Good. Now let's get **_**on **_**with the chapter…**

**Disclaimer: Do we have to put this in **_**every freaking chapter? **_

"Max!" Fang called again, louder this time. I ignored him, stuck my chin in the air, and went over my already memorised polarizing rant mentally. As I crept down the long, spacious hallway to Nudge's room (there was _noise_ coming from it. Nudge noise.), I tried to take small, quiet steps as I walked, but it didn't seem to be working. Every step I took was a heartbeat closer to Nudge's room. What the hell had they been doing in my room anyways? What would have happened if I hadn't walked in?

"Max!" Fang appeared at my side, sweeping me up off my feet. "You need clothes." I looked down at my torn, $100 dress that was hanging limp around my waist.

"I didn't walk into the room like that, did I?" The power in my face faded as I looked into Fang's dark eyes. As he shook his head, I let out a sigh of relief that I hadn't realised I'd been holding. "Good."

"Come on." Fang teased, picking me up and walking me silently back to my room, careful not to crush my already crushed ribs. Setting me down on the bed, I fell back and crashed my head onto my pillow, sighing in relief. I put my hands above my head and closed my eyes, ready for a deep sleep. Out of the freaking blue, something soft and squishy landed on my face. I screamed. "Calm down, it's just you sweat-shirt."

"God." I muttered to myself, sitting up. Fang rummaged through my closet again, looking for more clothes, and I lay back down, my head sinking through the soft plush of the pillow. My eyes fluttered closed as I mentally re-capped my rant. When another item landed on me, I didn't scream, but instead let out a little squeak of shock. I stayed still, and soon another item of clothing landed on my bed. I opened one eye, then the other, and glanced down at the clothes on my bed. They were all black (what a surprise! Not…), and poorly chosen.

"Uhhgg…" I groaned loudly and Fang walked over to me, sitting down on my soft bed and stroking my mane of wildly untamed hair.

"Come on. Get dressed." He whispered huskily.

"Uhhgg…" I groaned again. I was _not_ in the mood to sit up.

"Come on Maxy." He teased, his fingers running over my naked stomach, sending shivers down my spine.

"_Don't _call me that." I growled, sitting up and snatching the clothes out of his hands. "Or _die_."

"_Someone's _having a bad day." He mocked, pulling the t-shirt out of my hands and over my head.

"Don't." I warned, flicking my hair out of my collar. "Gimme that." I said, snatching the sweat-shirt from his naturally tanned fingers. "God it's cold!" I moaned, pulling at the hood stings that surrounded my neck.

"Come on." Fang said, standing up and grabbing my hands, pulling me to my feet. I slipped the torn dress off my waist and pulled my jeans on. Turns out they were my black skinny jeans I've been looking for since we a week after I bought them 2 months ago.

"Nudge…" I growled, my eyes centred and my fists clenched. I buttoned them up and stormed out of the room, adding more and more to my rant in every step. I stormed into Nudge's room, my fist still clenched and Fang following closely behind. I slammed the door and walked up to her. She was in the corner kissing and giggling with Zach, who was all over her, touching her, nibbling her. I may as well have bought tickets to an R-rated porn movie and come into the cinema with a bucket of popcorn and a perverted mind. I grabbed Nudge's shirt collar and pulled to her off the ground, my fist shaking. Not the broken one, which was hanging limp at my side.

"What is your freaking problem?" I screamed at her face, forcing tears out of her eyes.

"Max…" She gulped, so terrified unable to get to words out.

"You're always in my life, you always want what's mine! All of it! My room, my clothes, my boyfriend! But you can't have _any _of it! Especially Fang!" Ok, pause rant. To tell you the truth, Nudge hadn't shown any signs of wanting Fang. She knows we are in total love and blah blah blah, but my life is too short to care.

"Max." Fang's deep voice said. Soon a hand was on my shoulder and I turned around to face him.

"Stay _out of this_." I growled, my eyes narrowed.

Fang put his hands up defensively as he backed away. I turned back to Nudge, my fists clenched so hard I could have shattered glass in one squeeze if I could.

"You. Need. A. Wake. Up. Call." I whisper-growled, stepping towards her every word. Nudge let out a little yelp from my uber-terrifyingness.

I felt a small tap on my shoulder. "Are you _sure _you want to do that?" It was Zach. "Because, you know, if I were you, I wouldn't do that." He stepped closer to me, ready to hurt me. Obviously he wasn't the kind of guy who was scared of hurting his rep by beating up a girl. I smirked at the thought. Good luck with that, dude.

"Or what? You'll beat me up?" I snarled at him. I guess Nudge hadn't filled him in on our _true _identity, as, you know, mutant bird freaks.

"I will if you lay a finger on my girl." His _girl_? What the hell is this guy's problem? "Or I could do _this _to punish you." He grabbed my face and pulled me close to him, his mouth on mine. I just stood there, too shocked to think. Suddenly my brain snapped back into action as my mind processed what he had just done. It actually worked out quite well, because as my mind snapped into action, so did Fang's. Fang, who was standing behind him, went for his sides, whilst I went for the groin area. His breath was knocked out of him in a delightful "Oof." Zach crumpled and fell to the ground as Fang quickly stepped over his squirming body and by my side protectively.

I wanted to spit on him, as did Fang, but Nudge had other ideas… "Baby!" She called, running to his aid. She crouched at his side, whispering 'soothing' words to him. She looked up at me and glared.

"I-I think I'm ok. Thanks to your no-good adopted sister." He said, wheezing slightly and sitting up awkwardly.

"Adopted?" I asked him once he got to his feet. He bent down over me. Zach was at least 6.2, 6.3, like Ig. But I was tall, being the mutated freak I am, and glared up at him with my 5.9 height.

"As you are." He said, looking at me, confused.

"Oh, I guess you didn't tell him our major secret then?" I glanced over at Nudge, who was now sitting on her bed, whispering something to Ella who passed it on to Libby, Tyler and Ig. Her face drained of all colour as she stared hard into my glare.

"What big secret?" Zach and Tyler both looked utterly confused. As Ella leant over to Tyler to whisper in his ear, his entire face pale. I expected him to say something, but he just kept his mouth shut as I scowled at Zach. "Babe, what big secret?"

"Nothing." Nudge said blankly.

"It's not nothing. You were _born _this way. You're gonna have to face it sometime if you want this relationship to get anywhere. Although, he might have already guessed by the time I'm done with him." I said, in a very motherly type way.

Zach snorted. "Really? You think you can beat me up?"

"Uh, yeah, I do." I said, snorting back at him.

"Good luck with that."

"I don't need luck." I said snidely, punching his nose with my right, un-broken fist, then quickly swapping to his ribs, which gave a sickening crack. Or that could have been his nose reacting slowly. Honestly, pure humans have like, _no_ pain resistance. It's just sad.

Zach crumpled slightly again, but didn't fall. Huh. Maybe he's pretty strong, for a human.

"Really?" He wheezed. "Was that your best shot?"

"Did you really think it was?" I asked, snapping a roundhouse kick straight to his chest. "Get out of here." I snapped, pointing straight to the doorway. He nodded silently and scrambled up, stumbling out of the room. Yeah, that's right, feel my wrath! I mentally high-fived myself, but I soon realised how out of hand that had gotten. Wasn't that meant to be a rant, telling Nudge off? Whatever…

I was soon snapped back into reality by Nudge yelling at me. "How could you do that? I think I love him!" She screamed, her cheeks tear stained.

"Are you blind?" I called, and gave a little cough after remember Iggy was in the room. "He doesn't love you! He wants someone to be his girlfriend for maybe a day before he dumps them!" I screamed back. I wasn't really angry with her anymore, only feeling sorry for her. "Look, not now, ok?" I said, my voice softening.

"Come on." Fang said, taking my hand and leading my out of the room. Well. That went well.

**A/N: U LIKE? Review review review review review review! I will not update until I have 15 more! I know, I know, that sounds selfish, but STILL! I need some reviews! They've all disappeared, thinking that I will just keep going. Well, I most certainly will **_**not**_**. REVIEW! **


	21. Sleep

**A/N: SOOOOOOOO SORRY! You're making me feel really bad. Ok, so here's the low-down: *Takes in a massive breath of air* The teachers are officially obsessed with making our lives a living hell, my mum got diagnosed with cancer, I have been taking out all my stress by running and our pool is only half done, which means that when I get home from my run, I can only sit there like a puffed fool. Plus, I'm sick. OK? So, it's not as bad as other peoples shitty lives, but still… it's not the best. Ok? Oh, and like, 5 people have told me to change the rating to M? I don't think I should, but YOU are the people and this is the peoples show (Soz, Hamish and Andy reference) (Soz, Aussie radio reference). Also, I haven't read Angel, so PLEZ no one go and tell me what happens… let's be positive here, as shite as it is… **

**Shout out to my friend Izzy (same Izzy as before) and make sure to check out her stories… bookluv1, you rock. **

**Disclaimer: ME NO OWN MAX. JUST HER RAGE. **

Fang pulled me into my room and sat me down on the soft plush of my bed. I kept my eyes narrowed and panted hard, my fists clenching and un-clenching with every heartbeat.

"Max…" Fang said, trailing off and looking down at my feet. He was crouching down to my sitting height, his knees bent outwards. Fang placed one of is his hands on my knee, the other cupping my cheek. I closed my eyes, trying to control my rage, as Fang's soft lips tenderly met mine. The kiss wasn't hungry, nor lustful, if was purely comforting.

"Max…" Fang repeated as we broke apart. I stayed silent, my eyes wide with emotion. He clambered onto my bed with me, wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulder and laid me back onto my pillows, his soft embrace locked in its soothing position.

I was suddenly calmer, tireder, and totally ready for a deep sleep that I had missed out on for days. I didn't really care about Nudge or her love-life, Angel and Gazzy and their dreams of school or the fact that Erasers are onto us again. And best of all, the fact that Jeb was a traitor, yet again, and my mother had let him into our house had detached itself from my mind.

I sank into Fang's muscly, yet soft arm and sighed, snuggling into his shoulder.

"You know, I could stay like this forever…" Fang trailed off dreamily, and I just grunted in reply, drifting off to sleep. I could have lay there silently for merely minutes, hours or even days, but how could I know? I'm just some undereducated bird-kid.

Forever later, I groggily opened my eyes. Had I been asleep, or just really tired? I glanced first at Fang's sleeping form next to me and then at the shimmering clock that was glowing in the dark room. Wait, since when was the room dark? And since when was I under my quilted sheet? I started to panic a little but reassured myself with the thought of Fang. The clock shone 3:47am as I heard two muffled voices next door. Ella's room. I gritted my teeth as I tried to remember who may be in there. If she and Nudge were up for another 'late night chat' I think I may kill them. But then I remembered last night, and Libby. Surely if two were talking, it would mean that one was asleep. But how on Earth could one sleep through Nudge's chatter? But I couldn't hear Nudge's chattering voice. Ella's giggle swam through the wall, and I narrowed my eyes, concentrating hard.

A deep voice followed, and my eyes widened. Two, no,_ three_ people have deep voices in this house. One, Fang, who was right next to me, dead asleep, although not literally. Two, Jeb. Now why would Jeb be in Ella's room at almost 4am making Ella giggle. Seriously, do the maths. He's sick, but not _that _sick. Three was Iggy. Ella's boyfriend. God help me.

I lay awake, shaken, for a while, before mustering up the courage to storm into her room and beat the crap out of them both. I crept out of bed, careful not to wake Fang's sleeping form next to me. Wishing I had his silent feet, I tip-toed along perfectly manicured hallway and stood outside Ella's bedroom, waiting for the perfect break in the talking to break into her room.

"And…" Murmur murmur murmur. "Dancing…" Mumble mumble mumble. "Slutbag…" Well, then missy, who taught you that language? "English…"

A deep laugh suddenly erupted from the inside but was suddenly cut off. I took this as my chance to storm in and gripped the doorhandle and flung it open.

"What the hell d-!" I screeched, but was cut off by the sight of Ella and Iggy lying together on Ella's bed. And not in a bad way either.

"Max, relax!" Iggy announced, looking vaguely at my left ear.

"I, I, I just, but…" I stuttered, totally confused with what was going on. Although I had expected to walk in as Iggy was ripping Ella's top off, or as Iggy's pants were dropping, I was kind of surprised that Ella and Iggy were lying totally innocently on the bed, staring and laughing as _physics _textbook. A _physics _textbook.

"What?" Ella looked confused.

"What _are_ you doing?" I screamed.

"Physics homework." Ella simply stated.

"What?" Iggy stared hard at my shoulder.

"_Physics _homework?"

"Yeah!" Ella looked smug. "Iggy is surprisingly good at it."

"Totally. I just take the flying crap and change it round a little." I looked at Ig in surprise.

"What?" I raised my eyebrows a little.

"Yeah."

They are just so informative.

"So anyways, Iggy was just showing me this thing and we got a little distracted and he started cracking jokes about molecules getting married and…" Iggy slapped a hand over her mouth, much like he did to Nudge.

"We get it, El." He laughed, kissing her neck. Ella giggled and started tickling his stomach. "Ella, baby, don't." Iggy muttered.

"Ok, well, this is just awesome, but I think I may return to my room." I said, eyeing them suspiciously. "But stop keeping me awake, or I'll kick you're asses into next month. I need my sleep."

"Nice. 'K bye Max." Iggy's voice came out muffled, as his lips were latched onto Ella's.

I groaned and stalked out of the room. Entering my own, I tip-toed around to the other side of my bed, crawled into it and closed my eyes in fatigue.

"Where have you been?" I deep voice whispered into my ear, making me scream. I strong hand fastened itself over my mouth, muffling my voice. I held the wrist with my death grip and finally brought myself to look at the voices owner.

"What the hell, Fang?" I said, slapping him across the face.

"Where have you been?" He repeated.

"Checking on Iggy and Ella. They were making _noises_." I emphasised.

"Noises?" Fang's dark face loomed in the dark, his dark eyes glittering.

"I woke up at a quarter to four in the morning and heard giggling the making out. What the hell am I to think?" I hissed.

"And?"

"You really are being no help." I said bluntly.

"And?" He repeated.

"Stop repeating stuff. I know what you mean!" I whispered. "This is really not the time to annoy me." I turned on my side, my back facing Fang, and crossed my arms in annoyance. "Now shut up. I wanna get some sleep."

"You better. You look horrible."

"Excuse me?" I turned on my side to face him. Fang's dark face was close to mine, and his fingers had already started to intertwine themselves in my hair.

"But horrible is what you always look like."

"What? Stop messing with me, Fang. Not in the mood."

"But you do. Horribly gorgeous."

"That was the worst comeback I have ever heard." I hissed again. "Have you heard the Erasers? Because that was worse than them."

"Ooh. That hurt." I said sarcastically, bringing a hand to his heart.

"Shut up. I'm going to _sleep_ now Fang. That means you need to be _quiet_, which isn't usually a hard thing for you to do!"

"Fine. Night gorgeous."

"Shut it." I growled.

"Fine. Night."

I didn't answer, falling into a deep, restless sleep easily. Next thing I knew, my eyes were fluttering open, staring into Fang's chest. Glancing at the luminous clock on my wall, I established that it was too early for me to get up, as I was up for what felt like ages at about four this morning. In the hall I heard Nudge and Gazzy arguing, again, and the sound of Ella's voice, trying to get them to shut up. Thank God.

"Just _shut up_. I'm trying to sleep!" She announced so loudly it could wake the dead.

"I may be blind, but I can still hear you!" Iggy screeched from what sounded like Ella's room. Holy. *Insert swear word of your choice here*. Iggy. Ella. Bed. Room. I shot up in bed. Not _again_, Max. Don't do it. They are probably just trying to sleep. Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out. I couldn't help but tip toe out of bed after unwrapping Fang's arm from my waist. I grabbed an appropriate top to walk out of the room with (the black, lacy strapless bra I wore last night did _not _seem right) and practically pulled the handle of the door off. After reassuring my shakes, I gripped the door handle and turned it slowly. Storming out of the room, I quietly almost ran into Nudge and Libby with a glass to Ella's bedroom door.

"Are you serious, guys?" I said, scaring Nudge so much she fell over. Just then, Gazzy ran past, pointing and laughing.

"Suck it, bitch!" I screamed.

"Gazzy!" I exclaimed. "No!"

"You're not my mother!" He retorted.

"Yeah, well, then who is?" I screamed.

I expected him to give up in defeat, but sometime being a little to headstrong gets annoying. "That fucking bitch who _sold_ me to the fucking whitecoats!"

"Gazzy! To your room, _now_!" I screeched. "That is _not _ok, hear me!" He slumped off into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. _Preteens_.

"Somebody's a bit uptight." Nudge noted, receiving a death glare from me.

"Scatter." I announced, shooing them off. Libby grabbed Nudge's upper arm and ran down the stairs, whispering to one another.

I took a deep breath and knocked on Ella's bedroom door.

"What!" She screamed, obviously annoyed with the selfishness of the people yelling.

"El, it's me. Let me in." I said softly.

"Wait, let me grab a top." She replied. I took in a deep breath, trying to control my sanity.

"Ok."

Next thing I knew, the door was open and I was being pulled inside.

"'Sup, Max." Iggy said, lying under Ella's covers, shirtless.

"Ok, guys, I know you're-." I started.

"Calm down. Before you start ranting, I think you should know that we didn't do anything. I stopped him before we could. We just fell asleep." Ella informed me.

"True, Max. We _really _didn't."

"Guys, _please_ don't. I get it. But, _please_ don't scare me like that."

"It's ok. We forgive you." Iggy said in a babyish voice. Before I could, Ella slapped him.

"_Thank _you!" I exclaimed, laughing. I turned around and out of the room, giggling as I went. Today was a good day. It started out crap, but now, it's a good day. I don't think anything could ruin it. Ok, maybe Erasers, but nothing else. I skipped along to my room, flung the door open and bounded onto my bed.

"Come on, up you get!" I laughed, shouting and tickling Fang.

He groaned in response and I just laughed more.

"Never really a morning person, where you?" I yelled into his ear.

"No, he wasn't." The voice wasn't Fang's. And it wasn't _the _Voice. I turned around, to face… Dylan.

"Way to ruin my perfect day, idiot!" I screamed at him. "Way to ruin my perfect day."

**A/N: Extra long for extra good readers! I got 24 reviews in the time I haven't reviewed, but I need more. One more. 25 reviews before I update people! Tell all your friends, your family, and your moral enemies! Please, I seriously need reviews. Luv it luvz ya! r&r!**


	22. Shopping

**A/N: Turns out I am sick. Again. So here I am, writing this for **_**you**_** my fellow readers. God, I really have gone insane, haven't I? Oh, and I'm sorry for all the confusion: I've had a couple of complaints… sozry! Sorry also for taking soooo long. I changed my password and couldn't remember it and the thing that said 'I forgot my password' took, like, days. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own. James Patterson owns. I'm not him. He is him. **

**And also, credit to orange,polish for the name Jebbory! Crack up all you want at me (and I'm sure you already HAVE) but all credit is to her! Not me!**

I shook Fang awake sharply. He groaned slightly as I whispered for him to concentrate. Before I'd even finished the word 'Dylan', he had shot up in bed, his deep blue eyes wide.

"Get. Out. Of. Here. _Now_." He growled, his own death glare plain and clear on his face.

"What if I say no? Maxie doesn't mind, do you?"

"Get _out_, Dylan." I hissed. "Not in the mood. Don't have the time. And you know what; you're an idiot with no life."

"But you know what? Your mom _invited_ me to stay with you. You see, your dear father Jebbory is very ill with guilt and discomfort. He never _wanted_ to hurt you, Maxie. So, your mother, being the fantastic lady that she is, invited him to stay. Dear old Jebbory forgot to mention just one thing, though. And that would be _moi._ And so, here we are, fighting over something as stupid and worthless as _him_." He shook his head in Fang's direction, and I was gaining anger, getting ready to pounce.

"You know what? I think you're lying. I think you are a big, fat, liar with nothing better to do than mess with everyone else! You want me, but you know what, you can't _have_ me. I have a _boyfriend_. And he's not _you. _And so, because of your insecurities, you prance over here, trying to get me to fall for you. But you're doing just the opposite." I stood up, my fists clenched as I slowly stood up. "You are an idiot who can't control himself or his love life. Get the hell over me and move on! Get out of my life, you retard!" My anger was now too hard to control, and so I let it take over me. I was determined to make this guy's life hell on Earth. Fang was soon there, ready to back me up. Dylan had been engineered to fight well, and would match pretty evenly with just me. But with Fang right behind me, Dylan was soon on the floor, groaning in pain. His nose was crooked, and he was very much coughing up blood. Dylan's arm hung at a painful angle, and it looked like he had at least 5 broken ribs.

"Ha. Serves you right." I laughed, kicking his head lightly for good measure.

Fang stood silently behind me, but I knew he was smirking. He wrapped an arm around me waist and picked me up, mindful of my completely forgotten broken ribs and wrist. "Come on, babe. Let's get away from this creep." Fang hissed. Spitting on Dylan for good luck, he carried me out of the room bridal style and headed down the hall.

"Stop." I instructed, slowing outside Ella's bedroom. I pounded on Ella's door. "Get the hell out here, both of you!" I hollered. Two concerned faces appeared at the doorways; they knew my voices. And this was not one you wanted to hear often.

"Yes?" Iggy asked, worried.

"Iggy, I want you and Ella to do two things: 1) both of you, put a shirt on. 2) Get Dylan out of this house. He's bleeding to death on my bedroom floor." Iggy nodded silently and retreated into the room. "And El, make sure he does it properly. Oh, and when you're done, can you make him whip me up some bacon and eggs. I'm starved." Ella nodded, flushed, and closed the door. Fang stifled a laugh as I directed him downstairs. You know, having a mutant boyfriend who can carry twice his weight for hours is very nice.

"Maximum." Mom started as I entered the kitchen.

"Don't bother, Mom. You let some of the people I hate _most_ in this world into the house without asking me." I snapped, dropping from Fang's arms.

"Maximum, that isn't your decision to make." She placed the pan she was washing back into the sink.

"But you _knew_ how much this would hurt me, and annoy me. You knew I would hate it. You knew I hate them."

"Maximum, calm down."

"No, you calm down!" I snapped again, losing my patience.

"Maximum, you are being ridiculous!" She screeched.

"Oh, for God's sakes, stop with the Maximum! My name is _Max_."

"You're being ridiculous!" She exclaimed.

"And you're not?" I retorted.

"Max…" Fang warned, his strong arm gripping my waist.

"No. Don't you _Max_ me. She invited two of the people I most _hate_ in the world to _live_ here, because, as that idiot you call Dylan said, _'my dearest father Jebbory is ill with guilt and discomfort'_. Oh, _please_. They just want to be here to spy on us for the remains of the School." I yelled. "And she doesn't even _tell_ me."

"For God's sakes, Maximum! I can hear you from down the street." Jeb strode into the kitchen, a shopping bag in each hand.

I stormed up to him, leaving Fang's arm in a curled shape around air, and clenched my fist. I raised my left arm and pulled back hard, releasing as soon as I heard the snap of Jeb's nose.

He stepped back and screamed in pain, blood literally squirting out of his nose. I cringed at the feeling of my injured wrist taking a punch, but stormed out anyway.

"MAXIMUM!" My mother called, but I was already out the back door, snapping my wings open and flying high into the sky. Turns out my shirt didn't have wing holes, and was already falling down, and so I just ripped it off and dropped it into the land below. After a few moments of flying, I started shivering from lack of warmth. It turns out that the higher you go, the colder it gets… and it being winter wasn't helping. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to gain heat, when I noticed a shadow flying above me. I would have just flipped around, assuming it was Fang, but I was shirtless and in a black, lacy strapless bra, and I didn't trust whoever was above me to not be some pervy, mutant idiot like Dylan.

"Max." The deep voice we all know and love said softly. "Max, you're cold."

I flipped onto my back, flying upside down. It's amazing how exhilaratingly fun it can be. "Not shit, Sherlock." I said sarcastically.

"Are you going to put a top on?" He asked.

"What, so you can't stare at my sexy abs all day?" I joked. "It's not like I have anything to wear. Unless you are manly enough to take your top off so I can wear it."

"Nope, I think I'll just let you freeze." He chuckled.

"Fine." I scoffed. "He's my credit card, and run down to that Wall-Mart down there and grab me a top. Size four." I instructed, handing my card to him above my head.

"Ok. I'll be back. Just wait here for a sec." He shot downwards.

"It's not like I have any other choice!" I called, circling above, still shivering. Minutes later, he returned, holding a little, skimpy, bright pink tank top that looked as though it would stop at my waist. As I looked between it and Fang, a small smirk covered his face.

"I thought this would do the trick." He said, calmer than possible. I groaned and snatched it from his hands. Pulling the pocket knife I always kept in my pocket out, I cut two large slits in the back of it, one for each wing. Throwing it over my head, I nodded my head in the direction of a large shopping mall.

"There's a mall about ten minutes away. I'm going to get some_ proper_ clothing, are you coming?" I called, already half way there.

When he didn't reply, I looked back to check on him. Just as I should have suspected, he was right there, literally up my butt.

"For God's sakes, Fang. A little personal space would be nice!" I exclaimed, jumping at the sight of him so close to me.

"What?" He asked.

"Idiot." I muttered, accelerating and pushing fast ahead. About ten minutes later, we landed at the back of the mall, by the dumpsters and old, rusted cars.

"Come on." I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the entry. He let go of my hand, and I smiled gratefully when he put an arm around my shoulder. After pulling my hair into a messy pony tail, I pushed the door open, gasping at the intensity of it all. People everywhere; claustrophobic nightmare. I gaped at the amount of clothing stores that covered the walls.

"Note to self: Do not tell Nudge where this is." I murmured, keeping Fang close.

"Or we'll never get her out of here." He muttered back. I nodded my head in agreement and continued looked around. Spotting an information booth, I pulled Fang towards it. I tried to keep calm, but so many girls were staring at Fang lustfully and at me like I was a bitch for having him as a boyfriend. Fang must have noticed the same thing, too, but with the guys, because he looked as though he were about to punch them all so hard they died then and there.

"Keep cool, Fang." I whispered, trying to hide my concern. "Lie low." He nodded his head in agreement as I stepped up to the information counter.

"Hi. How may I help you?" A young man asked quickly, eyeing Fang lustfully.

"Uh, we were wondering where I could grab some clothes? This one's a bit on the small side." I said, tearing his dagger-shooting eyes away from Fang's arm around me.

"Well," He sighed, letting go of whatever feeling he was holding inside him. "I saw the cutest t-shirt and pair of jeans that would look fab-u-los on you."

"Where?" I asked, hopefully. Finally, I would be able to get out of this skanky top.

"At Spirit. To your left, five stores down." He said, motioning with his arms.

"Thanks!" I said brightly, as Fang started pulling me away.

"But honey, if I were you, I wouldn't take that top off! Do wonders for your dating life." He whispered, bringing me back.

"Thanks." I laughed. "So would I, but it's not really me."

"Max!" Fang said, his voice like ice

"Gotta go! The man calls." I said, waving goodbye.

"Max!" Fang repeated, yanking my hand.

"What?" I hissed.

"Let's just go."

"He was _nice_." I said, anger rising up.

"Never said he wasn't." He muttered.

"Then _what_ is wrong?"

"He was creeping me out."

"Excuse me? How?"

"Gay until the world ends."

I scoffed. "No shit."

"He was checking me out."

"Like that any different from all those girls standing over there checking _you_ out." I hissed.

"It is! He's a guy!"

"You know what? Why the hell are we fighting about this? We have bigger things to worry about." I said, yanking my hand out of his. I walked on, held my head high, and tried to barely acknowledge that Fang was still walking next to me, right at my side.

"Max…" He said.

"No." I said firmly. "Don't _Max_ me. I am seriously not in the mood." I walked on, counting three, four, five stores on my left. Glancing up at the sign, which wasn't florescent pink by the way, which is always a good sign for me, I managed to walk in without puking all over myself. The skimpy singlet I was wearing, with tiny bike shorts and the heels I wore last night was the least of my worries. For now, it was getting out of here alive. And no, no Erasers crowded the floor, no morphing mutants, only pink frills and mini-skirts.

"Lord save me." I murmured, scowling at the petit little girls with no mutations laughing and giggling around the store.

"Hi! You need any help?" An employee asked, eyeing Fang. I grabbed his arm and put it around me.

"Uh, yeah. Me and my _boyfriend_," I emphasised, saying it loud enough for all the eyeing girls to hear, "were wondering where I could get maybe a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt? Yeah, we were out on you _four year_ anniversary last night and things got a little out of hand. My clothes got a little ripped up and this is all he brought back from Wall-Mart on our way home." I flattened my wings tight against my back, feeling the envying stares of the people around me. I prayed that my hair was long enough to cover the white tips of my wings, as half the girls in this shop were sending daggers into my back.

The employee's face dropped a little, but I could tell she was just being nice for Fang's sake.

"Sure. Our skinny jeans are over there," she pointed to her left. "And our layer tank tops are right near the changing rooms." I nodded and smiles, dragging Fang to my left, quickly looking through for a size four and snatched it off. Heading towards the 'layer tanks', I discovered that they really were these tank tops that you put over one another. Grabbing three – red, pink and purple – I dragged Fang to the hallway of changing rooms and pulled him to an abandoned stall in the back. Locking the door quickly, I dropped the clothes and let out a breath.

"You ok?" Fang seemed concerned.

"Yeah." I sighed, panting. "I just really don't like crowded stores."

"Gathered that." He smirked at me, but I just pushed him out of my way, took my bike shorts off and pulled the red shirt over my head. Then the pink. Then the purple. Turning to look at myself in the mirror, almost gaged.

"Loving it Maxie." Fang laughed, receiving a punch in the ribs from me.

"Oh, shut up. Just stay here, ok? I'm gonna get another t-shirt."

"Can't I?" Fang begged.

"No. Don't you remember what happened last time?" Pushing him out of the way and against the wall, I opened the door swiftly and slammed it shut, leaving a very confused Fang behind. Returning into the main section of the shop, it seemed as if everyone had returned to normal. No cute boys lurking, no death glares being passed around. I quickly surveyed the clothing racks around me, quickly noticing a _normal_ t-shirt; one with no pink, no straps, no fancy-schmancy stuff.

Jogging over to it, I picked it up off the rack and almost laughed my head off, literally. One the front was bold writing; **PEACE. LOVE. FLYING. **I flipped it around and giggled a little more. A pair of baby sized wings had been painted on, about the size of Angel's wings when she was two. I fingered through for the right size, and laughed the whole way into the change room.

"What the hell's so funny?" Fang snapped, his eyes glaring at me through slits. What made him so mad?

"This." I laughed, revealing the writing on the t-shirt. His face suddenly reopened as he started laughing.

"That," He laughed, "is the… funniest… and most… obvious… t-shirt… ever." He choked out, his olive face turning beet red.

"I know!" I giggled. Taking the skimpy tank-top off, I pulled the t-shirt over my head and struck a pose.

"Nice." Fang said, calming himself from his laughing fit. I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled.

"Ima take this off now. Buy it." I said, pushing the t-shirt into his hands. But bring it back and make sure that I can wear it out." I directed.

"Ok."

"Wait, and the skinny jeans." I said, yanking them off my legs and handing them to him. "Please don't get seen on the way out of here, you'll get held down by the police. And I don't really want to bring the release forms home to my Mom after you kill one."

Fang nodded silently and left the changing room, disappearing slightly along the way, enough so that at one glance he wouldn't be there, but at the next he would. I loved how he could make himself invisible in the blink of an eye. It was one of the many things I love about him.

**A/N: Well. That was a long one. Not my longest, that was the dress one. Anyways, I only got 22 reviews! SHAME! I'll be less greedy today and ask for 20. Thanx for reading! Review and make my day! Plez? For me?**


	23. Thick Shakes

**A/N: Well. Don't you just **_**love**_** life? Coz I sure as hell don't. So, I have a torn ligament in my foot, I'm wearing a moon boot thing, all my friends call me Moonie and my mum calls me Gimpy (am I missing some old reference?). Plus I just walked in to the kitchen/dining room/living room (it's all in one) to hear my mother explaining what a uterus was to my little brother. He's five. And then he asked what sperm was. I think I may be sick.**

**But on the bright side, it's school holidays until the 28****th****! Whoopity whoop! **

**But on the DARK side, it's my birthday on the 28****th****. For my birthday, I get school… woo? I is turning 13… I'm a big girl now! LOL…**

**Disclaimer: Moi + Maximum Ride = TOTES FALSE.**

An hour later, Fang and I found ourselves sitting on one of the many seats in the food court that filled half the shopping mall.

"It's like this place was built for us!" I exclaimed, yet again, my eyes flashing over all the stores with my genetically enhanced bird-kid sight. "Like, it has all the clothing lines in the freaking _world_, plenty of war-oriented stores for Gaz and Ig, and a food court to fill the 7 billion people on the Earth. How the hell did they know we were coming!"

"Max, calm the farm." Fang joked, staring at me with the brightest eyes that could appear from him, not the most smiley person I've ever met.

"I'm serious!" I looked at him meaningfully, a glint in my eye. "Fang, credit card. Now." I grabbed his wrist, forcing it upwards.

"Now Maxie… you gave me your beloved credit card so you wouldn't blow the rest of the money." He teased.

"But I want a thick-shake!" I whined, putting on my best pouty face. And let me tell you, I only pout for particular reasons. Like cookies. And thick-shakes. They were the only two things I could keep down for the weeks that Fang was away. "Pwease?"

"No."

"Pwease?"

"Max, you sound like a _three year old_."

"Well, I could be. All my memories of Jeb and the house in Colorado could be fake!"

"I've been going out with you for over four years, remember? That's why you have your arm in a bandage."

"Hm, talkative much?" I retorted. Fang put his hands up defensively (yeah, he was being _defensive_ of his speech habits) and I took the opportunity to grab my credit card out of his hands and take a run for it. He looked stunned, but I just turned to him, a good twenty feet away, and yelled. "Vanilla or chocolate?" He glared at me, but my response was just a giggle and a short wave. I walked away, but tried to keep my cool about the amount of girls already ogling Fang. I stuck my nose up high and walked on, heading towards the thick-shake cart. I waited in line patiently, only to discover the sheer length of it was because of Fang.

"I hear he's an actor. I swear I've seen him before!" The blonde girl in front of me whispered to her friend.

"Yeah, that one we saw on Monday night. I bet he was that guy's older brother. You know, the guy who was going out with the girl?"

"Omigosh, yeah!" The blonde squealed. "Should we go say hi? I wonder if he would go out with me?"

Sick of their endless blabbering, I pushed forward, stationing myself between the two. "Don't bother. He's taken." I said simply.

"By who?" She looked engrossed.

"By me." I winked at her and tossed my hair back. "Have fun girls." I pushed in front of them, now first in line.

"Hey!" One of them exclaimed. "We were there!"

My fists clenched at my side, and I brought them to my chest. "Are you _sure_ you wanna go there?" Ok, I admit it. This wasn't me. I was the good girl. Good_ish_ girl. But what did I care, I had a hundred girls ogling my boyfriend.

"You wouldn't hurt me."

"Course I would." I retorted.

"Hurt Liv and get hurt by me." The blonde snarled, in attempt to be rude and/or 'frightening' – good luck with that, hon.

"Jade!" Liv hissed. "I can take care of myself!"

"Hurt by you? Good like with that." I stuck my chin in the air and walked forwards, towards the empty counter. I was suddenly pulled backwards, away from the smiling girl within the stall.

"You wanna go there?" The blonde, Jade, glared at me.

"Sure." I said happily. "Two against one, I'm in for that. You know why? Because these two _wings_ on my back. They're not painted." I slowly opened my wings through the slits until they felt about the right size. I spun around to face the girl at the counter, flipping my hair and smiling.

"Hi, how may I help you?" She recited, a smile planted on her face.

"Uh, can I get one vanilla and one chocolate thick-shake?" I asked kindly, discreetly forcing my mane of hair in front of my shoulders, as too show off to the two girls.

"Sure. I'll just be a minute." The girl at the counter turned away, quickly doing her job.

"So, girls." I said, turning back to their shocked faces. "You were saying?" Liv looked as if she had discovered a dead body in her bedroom. Herself.

"N-nothing." She stuttered, and the two girls scurried away. I turned on my heel, a satisfied smirk on my face. Retracting my wings fast, I turned back to the counter, just as the attendant appeared with my shakes.

"One vanilla, one chocolate." She said, smiling. "That'll be $7.00." I quickly handed her my card and turned to Fang, only to find him surrounded my pretty girls. I narrowed my eyes at him, glaring, only to find a face that I rarely saw from him. _Help me!_ It begged. Ha. So Fang didn't like this either. "Thanks for coming to _Shakes Galore_. Hope to see you again soon!" The girl recited, and my face snapped back to her, snatching my credit card, shoving it in my pocket and grabbing the two shakes, heading towards Fang, a snarl on my face.

"Hey Babe." I said, pushing through the crowd of girls and settling myself on the stool next to Fang. He looked somewhat revealed to see me, letting out a sigh. "Did ya miss me?" I winked at him discreetly, muttering at a pitch that only bird kids could her. "PDA." I breathed. He nodded slowly, understanding.

"Course I missed you." He said huskily. I quickly took his hand, leaning in for a kiss. As soon as his lips touched mine, a familiar spark shot through me, and I smiled against his lips. I grasped his hair, an exaggerated moan escaping from my lips. His hand trailed up my side and started to dip under the bottom of my shirt. His hand was soon just under my bra, tingling.

"Fang," I moaned. "Not here." I pulled back, resting my forehead against his. I grabbed his hand and a shake and pulled him away from the crowd. "Let's go." I whispered in his ear. He nodded silently and started to walk away from the group of gaping girls staring after us. I smiled inwardly. _Suck it, bitches. He's taken_.

"What did you say?" Fang queried.

"I didn't say anything." I said, confused.

"You said something about me being taken."

"No I didn't."

"I swear you did."

I slapped a hand to my mouth, understanding. "Oh. My. God." I breathed.

**A/N: I know, crappy, CRAPPY chapter. But a chapter none the less. And GASP! What's up with Fang? And for any of you people who live under a rock, PDA is 'Public Display of Affection'. Just saying. And you know how I asked for 20 reviews? Well, I only got 17! SHAME! I want at least 20. Oh, and a heads up, but I'm going away on Sunday for over a week, to my grandma's and then camping, so I won't be able to update. But telepathically tell my mum to let me take my laptop so I can write it whilst I'm away!**


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